


Hugs for Hire

by marklesparkle



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kid Fic, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Single Parent AU, also lots of platonic johnil, and just in case, and my fav side!dojae, and to be more specific, college drop out!taeil, college kid!mark, father figure!taeil, im a sappy bithc nd no one can stop me!, kid!jisung, rated for language, side!tenny, side!yusol, this isnt the fic u think it is just read it ok, warning: extreme fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 20:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8342191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marklesparkle/pseuds/marklesparkle
Summary: Taeil is kind of clueless and Mark thinks it's kind of cute. Johnny thinks he kind of wants to vomit.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone! this is the first fic i've written in five years so pls be nice to me!!! thnx!!! 
> 
> ok so before you read you should know that:  
> 1\. there's no sexualization of mark or any of the other minis at all even if they're aged-up! i actually decided to write this fic because i've seen so many disgusting fics sexualizing the children and it makes me want to vomit so i'm here to spread fluff in the nct tag!
> 
> 2\. i'm making this three (or more) parts because this is going to be pretty lengthy and i don't want to torture you all with 20k words in one chapter!
> 
> 3\. i don't even ship this pairing but i love the dynamic so much and this idea was super cute so here i am lmao
> 
> 4\. this is un-beta'd and i already know the tense is three different types of terrible but i'll go back and edit later (probably)
> 
> 5\. i'm american and i'm not about to be ignorant and try to write about another culture so just remember that what you're about to read is an au and that i went far out of reality with most of this so!!!!!
> 
> okie doke thank you for all reading! enjoy <3

If you asked Moon Taeil five years ago what’d he’d be doing on a Saturday night, he’d probably have said something along the lines of studying for an upcoming organic chemistry exam, completing his last thesis before graduation, or simply sleeping the stress of rigorous classes off before the cycle started again the upcoming Monday morning. If life went as smoothly as Taeil had expected it to, his weekend would have turned out a lot like he had originally pictured. But, as we all know, life sucks. Like really, really fucking sucks and not only is Taeil not studying for that advanced organic chemistry exam, he’s not even enrolled in school anymore; Moon Taeil is a Seoul National University dropout.

“Do I _have_ to take a bath tonight?” Jisung pouted, jutting his lip out as he takes the final bite of his five-star dinner (read: chicken tenders with a side of green beans.) His eyes found Taeil’s across the table, giving the older those puppy eyes that render Taeil’s best friend and house mate Johnny weak at the knees. Unlike Johnny, Taeil gets the kicked puppy pout thrown his way at least once every twenty-four hours and finds himself to be nearly immune to it by now. Key word: _nearly_.

“Yes, you _have_ to take a bath tonight. You want to be nice and clean for school tomorrow, right?” Taeil inquired, diverting his eyes from the sulking child before him. He found that if he didn’t actually look at Jisung when he was being obnoxiously cute, being firm with him wasn’t all that difficult. If Johnny were there he’d call him pathetic.

Taeil took his and Jisung’s plates from the table, padding his way to the sink barefoot. He wasn’t in the mood to actually wash dishes at the moment so they’d have to wait until after Jisung’s nightly bathing and nightlight routine was taken care of. Looking back at the makeshift coffee-turned-supper table, Taeil saw that Jisung was thinking over the question seriously. The sight of a focused Jisung almost made Taeil laugh outright but before the noise could leave his mouth in the ugly bark that Yuta forever teased him about, he covered his mouth and settled for a small smile instead because Jisung really was cute when he wasn’t trying to make Taeil’s life so hard.

Not even a minute passed before Jisung decided with a nod of his head that, yes, he did want to be nice and clean for school tomorrow, much to Taeil’s relief. “Alright then, go get your pajamas and meet me in the bathroom after you wash your hands.” Jisung nodded his head again before slipping out of the chair he had been sitting in and travelling the same path to the sink Taeil had taken a few minutes prior.

Reaching over the dirty plates, Taeil switched on the cold water tab for his nephew, taking the initiative to lather his tiny hands in soap before helping him step onto the bright red step-stool that was a staple in the Moon residence because of a pint-sized Jisung who had yet to really hit a growth spurt. Seeing that the younger had things under control, Taeil made his way out of the kitchen and down the hall, into the only bathroom in the apartment. 

When living by himself, the single shower and toilet with minimal storage space for supplies hadn’t really been an issue. Now that a seven-year-old and another twenty-something was thrown into the equation it had become a bit of an inconvenience and was admittedly a bad long-term investment on Taeil’s part. To be fair, he hadn’t seen himself staying there for longer than a year when he had originally moved in but, again, things didn’t go how he or anyone planned because in Taeil’s junior year of university, his older brother committed suicide.

Everyone in the family was very much aware of the eldest Moon brother’s mental illness; he was diagnosed with depression as a teenager and was on anti-depressants his entire adult life. He was really starting to do so much better, they all thought. No one read the signs correctly, no one saw it coming, and no one knew what to do with the boy left behind by his father. Taeil was still in college and could barely take care of himself, let alone a child, but he was kind of Jisung’s last hope. His own parents were far too old to try and take care of a kid as young as Jisung and none of the other family members were exactly stepping up to the plate, either. If Taeil didn’t take him, Jisung would go straight into the system and Taeil just couldn’t let that happen to him. So study sessions in the library on Monday nights became helping Jisung with his homework and Saturdays were now filled to the brim with bright, cartoon-printed puzzles instead of crashing at Doyoung and Jaehyun’s place after a night in the city. Things were different now but Taeil would give it all up one thousand times over if it meant doing the right thing for Jisung’s future.

 It had been well over a year since his brother’s death, but the night it happened was still as fresh as ever in Taeil’s memory. He had been at Johnny’s old place waiting for the former to finish getting ready so they could head to their friend group’s Christmas party at Taeyong’s together. It was going to be a good night, he remembers thinking to himself. He even bought that ugly sweater with the gingerbread men on it to wear for the sake of holiday spirit. Johnny had laughed in his face as soon as he opened the door to let him in but for once, Taeil wasn’t annoyed with the jokes at his expense. He allowed himself to smile and take a seat on the couch where he was content to aimlessly scroll through Instagram until Johnny was done fretting over which sweater was the tackiest for the occasion. One moment he was rolling his eyes at the sound of Johnny’s unending grumbling and the next he was answering what he thought was a routine call from his mother telling him to be careful while going out on a late night.

After that night Johnny and Taeil’s friendship became significantly stronger. There’s just a certain bond that forms between two people when such mournful news is delivered. Despite Johnny’s teasing nature he never once brought up how torn up Taeil had been that night nor did he (or anyone else) say anything about the cancelled party. It was the small things like that that made Taeil really appreciate Johnny’s presence in his and Jisung’s life because God knows what Taeil would’ve done if he had been by himself when he got that phone call.

Needless to say, Johnny was a big part of Jisung’s life whether he originally planned to be or not. Taking care of a kid by yourself wasn’t easy, but with how achingly awkward Taeil is, the task was almost impossible at first. He never knew what to say to his nephew when he kept on asking why he couldn’t stay in his old house or why he had to move schools in the middle of the year. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton every time he started to explain that he couldn’t stay in his old house because there was no one to take care of him there anymore and that he had to move schools in the middle of the year because Taeil’s university in the heart of the city wasn’t anywhere near his brother’s suburban dream neighborhood or Jisung’s school.  He knew things were confusing for Jisung, who had just turned six at the time, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for himself too. That was where Johnny came in.

Unlike Taeil, Johnny was funny (in Jisung’s eyes, at least). He could instantly make the little boy laugh with just a snap of his fingers. Taeil honestly thought it was pretty damn impressive, which is why he nearly fell to his knees and begged good old John Seo to watch his nephew whenever he couldn’t. The arrangement usually worked out well; Johnny was only taking a few online courses this semester because it was his last before graduation so he was pretty content to move into Taeil’s apartment the moment his friend had asked for his help. Johnny did his course work while simultaneously watching Jisung throughout the day, a task that wasn’t too incredibly taxing considering all Jisung ever wanted to do was solve floor puzzles and drink strawberry milk. During the day Taeil had to work down across town as a high-end hotel manager at a place called The 127, a gig he had been offered by one of his parents’ friends who were the owners.

Working long hours five days a week in a heavily social environment with less than optimal pay was far from Taeil’s dream job but he would take anything he could get that paid the bills and put food on the table. He was so busy working and taking care of Jisung all the time that he mostly forgot to feel sorry for himself, even if Johnny claimed the pity-parade was healthy for him every once in a while. If he were being completely honest with himself, Taeil knew how ugly his life had become in the span of a year—he lost his older brother and that kind of pain hurt worse than anything Moon Taeil ever thought he was capable of feeling. There wasn’t a day that went by without the world reminding him, either. Especially when he spent most of his time looking at Jisung who was slowly becoming a carbon copy of his own father.

The echo of bare feet against tile had Taeil snapping out of his more than depressing thoughts. Jisung marched straight past his uncle’s place near the bathroom sink and towards the tub, setting his clean garments on the closed toilet seat’s lid. From experience Taeil knew that while Jisung didn’t necessarily enjoy baths he wouldn’t put up a real fight once he was sat in the foamy warm water surrounded by a million different rubber duckies of varying bright colors and patterns because rubber duckies were basically the key to Moon Jisung’s heart.

Taeil grabbed the tiny box of bath toys from where it sat atop the toilet’s water tank. He removed its lid, revealing about twenty rubber birds. “Who’s the special guest tonight?”

“Mr. Tuxedo!”

“Alright, alright! Mr. Tuxedo it is,” Taeil laughed, taking out the VIP duck of the evening while simultaneously closing the box. The older of the two set the duck wearing the two piece black and white suit into on top of Jisung’s folded clothes. With one swift movement of the hand, Taeil turned on the water and waited for the tub to fill up. “Do you need me to help or do you want to try and fly solo on this one?”                  

The tips of Jisung’s ears turned red as he shyly mumbled, “Help, please.”

Taeil grinned and pretended not to notice the seven-year old’s embarrassment. “Okay.” Another fluid of Taeil’s hand and the tap was off, warm water sloshing slowly in the tub. Taeil dipped his hand in the water to test it; there was no way he was letting Jisung get burned by his shitty water system’s temperature issues.

“Uncle” Johnny was usually the one who got the chore of bathing Jisung on week nights because Taeil almost always had work when Jisung needed to be cleaned before bed. Last week Taeil gave Johnny specific instructions to teach Jisung to start learning to bathe by himself because Jisung was seven and a half now and that’s when most children “fly solo” with the shampooing thing, right? Taeil didn’t know and neither did Johnny but the pair thought it wouldn’t hurt to let him start trying. On this rare Monday night (literal) Uncle Taeil got to take the crown as both king and warden of the bathroom because Johnny was supposedly out on a date with his new boyfriend and Taeil surprisingly didn’t have a shift.

Jisung stepped into the water after discarding his day-old clothes in the hamper like the polite child he was. A small smile tugged on Taeil’s lips but he suppressed it in favor of dunking Jisung’s washcloth under the water and dousing it in baby body soap. The no-tears stuff really did wonders for everyone in the house, not just the actual baby.

“How was your week with Uncle Johnny? Did he teach you about bathing without one of us around?” Taeil inquired, wringing out the wash towel and handing it to the little boy who intercepted it immediately and started rinsing himself.

Jisung nodded. “It was good. I think I can bathe by myself now?” It was more of a question than an answer, but Taeil was used to taking what he could get at this point. Taeil lathered Jisung’s ebony tresses in more of the same baby brand product but this time using the company’s shampoo, forming a Mohawk on the little boy’s head. Jisung giggled as he felt his uncle tickle his scalp while simultaneously rubbing in the shampoo; he was a pretty ticklish kid, after all.

“If you think you can do it by yourself then why do you need me here?”

 Jisung shrugged. “Because I missed you,” is all he murmured, continuing to scrub his skin with the lilac-scented soap. A soft smile bloomed on Taeil’s face before he could even attempt to hide it because it wasn’t just any day that Moon Jisung wore his heart on his sleeve for his uncle to see. Usually Jisung showed his affection through actions instead of words— something Taeil related to on a spiritual level and had no problem understanding. Still, Taeil felt his gaze soften on the child in front of him who had become his entire life in just over a year. He knew that if his brother could be there with them, he’d be smiling too.

“I missed you too, squirt. I missed you too.”

-

The clock on Taeil’s laptop screen read 11:38 pm and his eyes were really starting to droop but apparently Ji Hansol and his thick skull didn’t mind being an inconsiderate little shit. “I already told you, Hansol, I can’t make it this weekend. Trust me, I want to get shit-faced as much and probably more than you guys do but I have to take care of Jisung,” Taeil explained, rolling his eyes at the audacity of his other best friend. Did Hansol really forget about Jisung that easily? The boy was seven for God’s sake and could hardly be left all alone in Taeil’s dingy apartment on a Friday night; that was just begging for trouble.

Hansol sighed in what was probably annoyance through the line. “C’mon, Taeil. Are you really telling me you can’t find _one_ decent sitter in the whole city of Seoul to watch Jisung for a few hours Friday night? This is Yuta’s birthday party and it would totally suck without you, no matter what Kun says.”

Taeil groaned loudly, massaging his temples. “I really genuinely don’t think you understand my situation— the only people who ever take care of Jisung outside of his school teachers are me and Johnny. I’m not about to throw him into the arms of a stranger just so I can spend the night watching you idiots sing SNSD at the karaoke bar like you do every single year!” Taeil snapped. “Oh, and tell Qian to go fuck himself.”

There was silence on the other end for a solid minute before Hansol spoke again. “Okay. I’m sorry for assuming you could blow off your parental title that easily but will you at least talk to Johnny about this? He’s coming and I know for a fact he doesn’t want you to miss out on the fun either. Maybe Seo can save the day for our moon pie!”

“Call me moon pie again and I’ll block your number for real this time,” another frustrated breath escaped him before he continued. “I’ll talk to Johnny about it when he gets home or something but I’m not making any promises, Ji Hansol. I gotta go now but I’ll call you back later tonight, okay?” Hansol muttered what sounded like a goodbye before hanging up.

A headache pounded ruthlessly against Taeil’s skull to the beat of his own miserable pulse. He knew that his friends weren’t trying to purposefully irritate him but he still couldn’t stop the phantom knot of raw frustration that lodged itself in his throat that came from trying to explain to Hansol that he wasn’t like the rest of their college friends anymore; he had a kid to take care of, a full-time job, an uncompleted degree, and a dead brother. To put it shortly life for Taeil wasn’t easy.

To be honest, Taeil wanted to go to the party more than he would ever admit to Johnny or Hansol or anyone else who would more than likely call him within the span of the week to try and convince him to join them this weekend but if Johnny went, Taeil couldn’t; that was just how the cookie crumbled in the Moon-Seo ~~apartment~~ household. When Johnny first moved into Taeil’s apartment, the both of them made an agreement that for Jisung’s sake only they would be the ones to watch over the young boy until he was a little older. If Johnny went out, Taeil stayed home with Jisung and vice-versa. That was the routine they’d religiously stuck to and up until now, it had been working out perfectly fine; apparently their friends didn’t feel the same way.

In Taeil’s defense Jisung had only been six at the time of his father’s death and he wasn’t about to take any chances to possibly emotionally scar him further by leaving him alone with an outsider after dark in a busy city. Plus, Taeil was extremely paranoid about finding the right person to take care of his nephew considering they did live in Seoul and there were some serious freaks of the week out there. Jisung was a well-behaved kid so Taeil didn’t doubt that there would be plenty of desperate college kids willing to watch him for a few hours in exchange for little pay but just the thought of both himself _and_ Johnny being away from Jisung made Taeil’s stomach twist uncomfortably. Hansol was right, he really did need to talk to Johnny and waiting until he got home was not a good option.                    

As usual, Seo Youngho, better known as Johnny by close friends, picked up after the first ring. “What’s up?” he greeted, no doubt grinning smugly into the receiver. Taeil hated a smug Johnny. “Actually, I have a pretty good feeling I know what’s up but I want to hear your side of the story before I jump the gun.” Taeil rolled his eyes. He _really_ hated a smug Johnny.

“I assume Hansol texted you, then, the traitor,” he exhaled “Apparently he wants both of us at Yuta’s birthday party on Friday but I don’t know how that’s going to work when one of us has to stay home with Jisung.” Taeil played with the cuff of his shirt as he waited for his best friend’s response. Externally Johnny might seem like your regular goof ball with uncanny good looks and impressive height, but he also almost always knew what to say to ease Taeil’s mind (read: almost).

As if sensing the elder’s anxiety, Johnny said, “I think I may have found a solution to our dilemma even though I’m pretty sure you’re going to hate it, and most definitely me after this, but before you kick my ass I want you to meet them- “

“ _Them_? “

“Yes, _them_. Look— Hansol and I have been working on this plan for the last two weeks because we knew if we mentioned it any earlier you wouldn’t have even listened to us but now that the party is in four days and everyone’s putting the pressure on both of us to go you’re forced to at least hear what I’m proposing because if you don’t I’m one-hundred percent sure Yuta will start crying when Hansol tells him you’re flaking out on his dumbass karaoke party again.”

Johnny was right about all those things but that didn’t mean he was going to admit it aloud or be happy about it. Taeil closed his eyes and took a deep breath before replying. “Alright. If you think you have the solution to end world hunger and stop Yuta’s cry baby card from activating and embarrassing us all, please enlighten me because I’m just dying to hear what stroke of genius hit you in the last two weeks that you didn’t feel the need to share with me.” Taeil’s voice was steady and he could feel himself gripping his phone with white knuckles; his breath was shallow as he tried to mask the hurt he felt behind biting words. In his heart, Taeil knew was such clingy boyfriend behavior he couldn’t find it in himself to give a shit because his two most trusted friends admittedly conspired against him for an entire fourteen days before finally spilling the tea.

“I know you’re probably really upset with me, and I understand that completely, but you and I both know that we can’t keep being with Jisung every day of the year. I know you’re scared- hell, I’m scared too and he’s not even mine- but we’ve gotta let go at some point. He’s almost eight now and knows we won’t abandon him at this rate, Taeil. Now you can either hear me out and have a great Friday night that doesn’t involve Pororo cartoons or you can hang up right now and stay mad at me for trying to help you out,” Johnny challenged. The serious tone of Johnny’s voice made Taeil’s stomach clench. Usually the banter between them stayed light and playful but tonight Taeil could feel Johnny’s emotional exhaustion that was more than likely just as high as his own. Jisung wasn’t Johnny’s responsibility by any means yet he still chose to sacrifice a huge part of his life in order to help his completely clueless friend raise the kid. Taeil suddenly felt like such an asshole.

It was a stiff silence that stood between them before Taeil decided to break it. Just this once he was going to trust Johnny. “I’m listening.”

Johnny choked a laugh from the other line. “Really? Are you being serious right now?”

Taeil rolled his eyes for what felt like the thousandth time that day. “Yes, I’m being serious. Now can you tell me what you mean before I fall asleep in this damn chair? I have to go to work in the morning unlike some people.”

“For your information, Mr. Grumpy Pants, Ten has to go to work early tomorrow, too, so I’ll be back home within the hour. Anyways, moving on to the good stuff- here’s my plan: I think we should get a sitter to watch Jisung until about two or three Saturday morning so we can really enjoy the night for what it’s worth. Now, before you jump all the way down my throat, let me say I already have the perfect person for the job so you don’t have to worry about finding some rando off the street last minute and ask them to watch our baby.” Taeil snorted at the “our baby” part before letting him continue. “I already told him about how freaked you would be about someone new watching Jisung and he even offered to be personally interviewed by you before Friday night just so you can confirm that he’s not an ax murderer who’s going to eat the kid or something.” Johnny finished. The sound of traffic could be heard from his end of the line so Taeil assumed he was walking Ten home who, if he remembered correctly, lived near Taeil’s old university.

Taeil thought about what Johnny said carefully for a few seconds. If he said yes, he’d be able to check this guy out and make sure he’s suitable for the job and if he wasn’t, in fact, an ax murderer then he and Johnny would both be able to go out and drink until they could comfortably sing SNSD at the karaoke bar with the rest of the fuck-up squad from college. It almost seemed to be too good to be true, Taeil deduced. He always had been a cynic, after all.

“Before you say anything or make a decision I also want you to know that I’ve been friends with him for a little over a year now; we met through that terrible physics class I was taking- you remember the one? Yeah, anyway, I’m pretty Doyoung, Taeyong, Jaehyun, and Ten know him, too. Hansol obviously knows him since he was the one who helped me with this whole thing and we all know if Hansol knows someone then that means Yuta also knows them. Okay, seriously, he’s a really good guy, okay? I think he’s a cool little dude that might be even cuter than Jisung himself, I shit you not. He’s also only a two years younger than me so he’s still studying and is about as desperate for a paying job as I’m about to be after graduation,” Johnny finished with a weak cackle. “So, yeah. That’s it. I like him a lot and so does literally everyone else and I’d bet my morning shower privilege that you will too,” he concluded.

“That’s all really nice sounding and everything but if this guy’s so great why have I never met or even heard of him? I’d like to think I’d know someone that apparently knows everyone I know,” Taeil retorted, disbelieving. This was pretty suspicious to him considering this person was never invited to their usual “squad” parties, as Jaehyun liked to say. He’d never seen this mysterious figure at Jaehyun and Doyoung’s or Yuta and Doyoung’s place, either, which he most definitely would have noticed seeing as how often as he and Jisung visit both apartments. Taeyong had never mentioned a word about anyone new, either.

Johnny swallowed nervously through the phone, making Taeil’s suspicions raise even higher. Laughing nervously, he replied, “I don’t know? You’re always super hung up with work and taking care of Jisung so you don’t exactly hang out with anyone as much as you used to, y’know. Maybe you’ve seen him before and never knew he was the guy I’m talking about?” While both those things were true, Taeil still couldn’t make himself completely believe the story Johnny was spinning for the main reason that Kim Doyoung’s mouth was the size of the milky way galaxy- there’s no fucking way he’d fail to mention someone as spectacular as what Johnny.

Taeil fought the urge to thump his head against the wall. If Jisung weren’t asleep one room over, he wouldn’t’ve hesitated to do so because Seo Youngho was being extra shady tonight and Taeil really didn’t have time for mind games on a Monday. He was so, so tired and his unmade bed was calling his name from across the room with a voice much sweeter than Johnny’s could ever dream of being.

“I still don’t buy your bullshit, Seo, but you’re in luck because I’m really fucking tired and want to hang up with you really badly.”

Johnny scoffed, “How is you wanting to hang up on me lucky? That makes no s-”

“You’re lucky I’m hanging up because I’m too drained to argue back meaning I’m agreeing to go along with your and Hansol’s stupid little plan. I still want to meet with this guy before Friday to make sure Jisung’s life won’t be in danger while we get wasted, but for now I’m saying yes to the new babysitter.” Taeil cut him off, feeling more annoyed with himself than Hansol or Johnny because they knew the best time to get Taeil to agree to anything was late at night when he wanted to go to bed.

Johnny whooped loudly into the receiver, making Taeil flinch and nearly drop his phone into his lap. “Hell yes! I swear you won’t regret this, man, I swear. Mark Lee is the best! He’s going to be so excited you agreed I’m going to call him right now-”     

“Johnny, please shut the fuck up and hang up before I do. I was serious when I said I’m exhausted. Aren’t you on a date, anyway?” Taeil grumbled, lifting himself from the desk chair he’d been sitting at while making the two phone calls. Their apartment only had two bedrooms and because Taeil lived there first, Johnny decided to make the living room into his makeshift bedroom instead of attempting to split the master bedroom into halves. He didn’t seem to mind sleeping on the couch and on nights like the current one, Taeil was glad he didn’t have to worry about hearing the younger come home.    

“Well, yeah, I’m walking Ten home so the date is technically over, I guess? He says hi, by the way.” Ten’s voice could be briefly heard under Johnny’s and Taeil smiled. He liked Ten. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone now that you said yes. I really am going to call Mark when you leave, though. And Hansol too because he’s never going to believe this shit!” Johnny was guffawing that ugly laugh again and Taeil hated to admit how much comfort he found in hearing it. He would never admit it out loud but Johnny was sort of his favorite person next to Jisung even if he was simultaneously the most annoying, too.

Taeil slipped off his socks before climbing into bed. “Wait, what’s his name again? It sounds really familiar.” For the second time that night, Taeil felt Johnny become noticeably flustered at his request for unknown reasons.

“His name’s Mark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twt + curious cat: m4rk1ee


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeil and Mark meet for the first time at nearly midnight on a Monday. Everyone is excited except Jisung; he just wants to go back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this update was earlier than planned because if i didn't post it now i wouldn't have been able to for another entire week so!! here it is!! thanks for reading in general but also for all the kudos!! it warms my heart ok :') don't be afraid to comment either i love feedback and hearing from you guys!! okie doke i'll stop talking now- enjoy!! (unedited as usual lmfao)

It was roughly 11 o’clock on Wednesday night before Taeil found the time in his schedule to meet the infamous Mark Lee. He asked around the hotel all of Tuesday to try and switch to an earlier shift with another one of the managers so he could possibly meet Mark earlier in the day but that plan went up in flames when everyone he talked to claimed they were unable to make arrangements on such short notice. Taeil wasn’t the biggest fan of last minute arrangements himself so he completely understood his coworkers’ inability to trade with only a day’s notice. Plus, he wasn’t exactly looking forward to this get together, anyway. Even if Johnny promised to have Jisung in bed by the time Mark was scheduled to drop by, Taeil still felt his stomach clench as the distance between himself and the apartment grew smaller.   

Taeil knew he should be grateful for Johnny’s determination to hire a sitter and especially for Mark’s willingness to work with their mini-family’s odd itinerary but he couldn’t shake the feeling of trepidation crawling up his spine whenever his mind wandered to Mark Lee. He was probably just psyching himself up like Hansol always claimed he did, but there was a real possibility that Johnny was a big fat liar and Mark really _was_ an axe murderer who wanted to eat Jisung for dinner. With that being said, Taeil also believed that the old lady across the hall was into witchcraft. His friends called him superstitious, but he liked to think of himself as the perfect amount of precautious.

So, here he was on his way to meet the kid who would be trusted to watch after his own literal kid. To say in the least, Taeil was nervous. It was a mixture of Mark’s young age and the fact that he knew nothing about him that was making Taeil itch. He only had one more stop before it was his turn to get off the bus; to soothe himself he began playing some coloring book-esque app Jisung forced him to download in the waiting room of his pediatrician’s office last month. If anyone were to ask, he’d say the app was there for Jisung’s use but in actuality it was pretty calming to color in pictures of smiling flowers when the work day got hard. Taeil smiled to himself as he remembered the blue rocket ship Jisung finished last week in the waiting line at the grocery store- it turned out way better than the grinning rose Taeil attempted to complete. There was a reason he was a nursing and not an art major back in university; he had no idea where Jisung got his artistic affinity from but he knew it wasn’t from watching his uncle struggle to match ties and button ups every morning before going to work.

The bus came to a halt and all at once Taeil remembered that the time to face his irrational fears had come. Inside the apartment building on the third floor and twelve rooms to the left he would see Mark Lee. He swallowed thickly. Deciding not to waste any more time, Taeil clambered off the bus with a half-hearted wave to the driver. He wanted nothing more than to get this rendezvous over with and go to straight to bed like the glamourous single father he was.

The apartment he and Johnny shared wasn’t extremely shabby, it wasn’t exactly the hot spot for other families with young children. Most of the residents were either older couples or business men who kept to themselves. No one ever asked any questions about why a child as young as Jisung was stuck in a place that was most definitely not kid friendly and Taeil appreciated that greatly. He already felt terrible enough for taking Jisung from the actual house he grew up in; the last thing he needed was nosy neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Smith asking why two men and a six-year-old lived together. Taeil knew exactly what the situation must have looked like from an outsider’s point of view, which was part of the reason he was so anxious about leaving Jisung by himself or with someone new. Being gay wasn’t just dangerous for himself in this city, but for Jisung, too.

Taeil hummed under his breath as he entered the elevator. He punched the button for the third floor and closed his eyes as the doors shut themselves; his body sagged heavily against the elevator’s railing. Today felt longer than any other from the months before. It seemed like every person in the hotel had some sort of complaint that no one but himself had the authority to handle. A ping disturbed his momentary solitude letting him know that he was on his floor and with a deep breath he exited the metallic box. Without thinking much, he turned left and walked down until he was standing face to face with his own door. _Do or die_ , he sighed.

Not bothering to knock, Taeil unlocked the door and stepped inside. The air smelled of mixed vegetables, he noted with a small smile; Johnny always had been better at the fixing a nutritious dinner thing. He toed off his shoes before hanging his bag on the wall above the shoe rack. Johnny had texted him earlier in the day to let him know that Mark would more than likely beat him to the apartment and the tell-tale sign of laughter coming from the kitchen proved that he was, in fact, the last one to the late-night shindig. He barely had time to turn around and begin heading towards the door before Johnny’s head was poking around the wall that separated the kitchen from the main living area. His face was sporting a large grin as he whisper-shouted, “Mark’s here!”

A forced smile forged itself on Taeil’s lips as he nodded in understanding; he was over a thousand percent sure he looked like he had a stick up his ass but, anxiety— what can you do about it, folks? He raised both his hands in defense. “Alright, alright. I’m walking as fast as my old bones will allow. Also, keep your voice down because your whisper-shouting is a little heavy on the shouting, Seo.”

Johnny rolled his eyes, his grin dropping instantaneously. “You’re such a buzzkill, Tae. You’ve been home a minute and I already have the urge to cry myself to sleep,” he pouted. Taeil rolled his eyes at how incredibly melodramatic Johnny was being in front of an audience. Instead of saying anything in return, he simply past him and entered the kitchen where the fluorescents were shining brightly onto an unknown figure.

The boy sat at the counter had black hair that was a little on the floppy side from what Taeil could see underneath his red cap. He wore a white hoodie with black font in a foreign language printed across the chest that was one size too large for his slim frame. His eyes were round, dark brown gems and Taeil knew he had probably seen that same shade of amber on a thousand other people but there was a light behind Mark’s eyes that differentiated him from anyone else on the planet. His mouth hung open grin that was all teeth; pearly white and rounded out a bit at the bottom of each tooth. There was a mole on the side of his neck that Taeil wished he hadn’t noticed but his eyes thankfully didn’t stay there for long because they soon found interest in the other’s cheekbones that were nothing short of sharp and sleek.

Taeil’s heart was hammering painfully in his chest. _Jesus Christ_ , he thought, _where the fuck did Johnny find this kid? On the cover of Vogue?_

“Taeil, this is Mark Lee— the guy I was telling you about,” Johnny announced, saving Taeil from his own inner turmoil. His best friend’s mouth perked into a smirk he dreaded more than social interaction itself; Johnny definitely hadn’t missed the way Taeil’s gaze focused on Mark for just a moment too long. A cackle threatened to escape his lips but he covered his mouth in time so neither Taeil or Mark seemed to notice his struggles; they were too busy staring at each other. _Interesting._

Mark’s smile grew wider as his eyes caught Taeil’s. “Hi, I’m Mark, the guy Johnny told you about,” he giggled at his own joke and Taeil kind of wanted to cry.

“Um, hi? I’m Taeil, the guy who’s been told about you?” The attempt to carry on the other two’s charade was pitiful at best but Mark didn’t seem to mind the lack of humor at all. If anything, he almost appeared even more delighted by the older boy’s awkwardness.

Johnny coughed abruptly, causing two pairs of eyes to draw their focus to him. “Okay so, Taeil, are there any questions you have for Mark about Friday?”

Taeil nodded and turned his attention back to the new face in the kitchen. “Yeah, I have a couple but because it’s so late and I really don’t want to keep you for long I’ll keep the list short.” Johnny snorted at the last part but Taeil chose to ignore him yet again.

“Fair enough. Oh, and it’s really not that late! Don’t worry about it,” Mark protested, shaking his head earnestly. His cheeks were dusted a light pink and like he had done with Jisung in the bathtub the night before, Taeil pretended not to notice his embarrassment. Taeil smiled again.

“Oh, okay,” Taeil started. “Um, anyway, I’ve already confirmed that you’re not an axe murderer and to be quite honest with you that was my biggest fear-”

Johnny’s ugly laughter cut Taeil off; the boom of his voice could’ve peeled the paint off the wall with how hard and loud he was laughing at Taeil’s confession. “Taeil, what the fuck? An _axe_ murderer? What is this, 1920? Oh my god. Wow. Just- wow.”

Taeil closed his eyes and told himself to just breathe in and out, in and out, don’t choke Johnny and breathe in and out. A minute passed before he could open his eyes again without hearing Johnny’s childish snorting. “Are you done?” He asked, eyeing the taller boy with the ear piercing sharply. Johnny covered his mouth and nodded yes but said nothing. Taeil had a funny feeling he’d be hearing about this long after the night had past.

Mark was covering his mouth with his hand as well, trying not to laugh and upset Taeil any further. The older man had dark circles the size of the moon under and his body language just screamed extreme fatigue; Johnny wasn’t kidding when he said Taeil was a hard worker. Even through the harsh lighting in the kitchen, his skin was still a deep bronze and his lips were thin when he was smiled. He was dressed in a simple black suit with a maroon tie hanging untied from his neck. Oddly enough, his hair was dyed a soft chocolate color and was styled up to showcase his perfectly proportioned forehead that Mark forced himself to not be jealous of. Overall, he looked vaguely disheveled but not in the way that made him seem sloppy, no, more in the way that made it seem like he had an extremely long day, which Mark didn’t doubt in the slightest. To be blunt, Taeil was a very obviously attractive man who had no idea he was attractive. Just the unsure air around the man in the tie and dress shoes showed Mark that not only was Taeil a hot (kind of) dad but that he really had no idea he was one at all. That thought alone made Mark want to crack up more than Taeil’s confession of thinking Mark himself was an axe murderer. Plus, an imagination like that was sort of cute in a weird and offsetting way.

Johnny raised his hands in surrender, catching Mark’s attention. “I swear to God I’m done. Sorry for interrupting, carry on. I’ll shut up now. Really.”

Taeil appeared satisfied with this answer because he started looking dead at Mark again. “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I was mainly concerned with you possibly being a criminal or murderer of some sort; I mean, with the city we live in, anything is possible. The next thing I wanted to know was how good are you with kids. Jisung isn’t a handful or anything extreme but I still want him to feel safe even if Johnny or I aren’t around, y’know.”

Mark opened his mouth to reply when all three of them stopped short when the sound of all-too familiar tiny feet padding against the tile floor filled the room. Standing in the entryway to the kitchen was a little boy with black hair and tan skin. In one arm was a yellow duck plushie wrapped tightly in his grasp while other was busy wiping the invisible crust from his half-closed eyes. Although he had only seen the him through pictures on Johnny’s phone, Mark recognized the child to immediately be Moon Jisung.

Jisung made it fairly obvious in his sleep-disturbed state that in the middle of the night he wanted no one other than Taeil. The boy approached his equally tired uncle and made grabby motions with his hands, using the universal signal for wanting to be picked up. Upon seeing Jisung, Taeil immediately crouched down to his level instead of easily giving into the child’s whim; he may have been small for his age but Taeil’s back pleaded with him to not try and hoist the seven-year-old up on his hip at a time like this.

“What’s wrong, Sung?” Taeil inquired softly, raking his fingers comfortingly through his nephew’s hair.

“Can’t sleep,” he answered, leaning towards Taeil with each word he spoke. The elder laid his hands on either side of Jisung’s arms to steady him.

“Why can’t you sleep? Are you sick? Does your stomach hurt?”

Jisung shook his head and sniffled. “No. Uncle Johnny woke me up. He’s so looooooud,” the last word was elongated so that it came out as more of a whine that had Taeil cutting his eyes dangerously at Johnny from across the room.

“Uncle Johnny says he’s sorry, Jisunggie. He didn’t mean to wake you up. Do you forgive him? He’ll be so sad if you don’t,” Taeil cooed, watching the gears in the child’s head turn. A small smile quirked at the corners of Taeil’s mouth; a sleepy Jisung was truly adorable.

“I don’t want him to be sad anymore but I want to go to back to sleep now. Take me, please?” Jisung jutted out his bottom lip again and worried it because no matter how tired he was he always knew how to pull the puppy dog cutesy trick from under his sleeve. Taeil chuckled and silently agreed to the child’s demand before taking Jisung’s smaller hand in his own, engulfing it effortlessly. He stood back up to his full height while still holding Jisung and looked back at Johnny and Mark who were both watching the scene intensely.

“I’m going to put him back to bed but I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he promised. Then, he spoke directly to Mark. “I’m really, really sorry for all the inconveniences tonight so if you want to leave now it’s okay with me and I promise my feelings won’t be hurt at all. Johnny can show you out-“

“Oh, wait! No, no, no, it’s fine, I swear. I’m not bothered at all! Don’t worry about it, Taeil, really. There’s nothing to apologize for. I understand that life isn’t perfect and neither is raising a kid, so I kind of expected some fall out here and there; it’s no big deal, really,” Mark interjected, stopping Taeil in his tailspin of unnecessary apologies. “And if it means anything, I’d still like to watch Jisung on Friday if you’re willing to let me even if we didn’t get to finish the interview process. But if not, that’s okay-“

This time it was Taeil who cut in, “No, no! It’s okay. I think it’ll be okay for one night. You seem alright and totally not an axe murderer that wants to eat my nephew for dinner, so I’m fine with it.” Mark cracked a smile at that, still finding Taeil’s dry humor lowkey cute.

“Oh, um, okay. Great! That sounds great, I mean,” Mark mumbled, feeling the tips of his ears heat up. _God_ , he groaned _, this was more embarrassing than actually confessing to someone._ He looked down at his fingers and away from Taeil in an attempt to focus his eyes on anything but the handsome man in a rumpled suit holding a child’s hand in front of him. As if by the grace of God, Mark’s phone vibrated violently against the counter. He didn’t have to read the contact name to know it would be Donghyuck asking where the fuck he was past midnight on a Tuesday. Mark rolled his eyes and turned his ringer off before pocketing his mobile; Donghyuck’s nosy ass would have to wait just a minute.

Jisung tugged impatiently on Taeil’s hand. “C’mon,” he huffed, attempting to drag his uncle down the hall to no avail.

“Alright, I heard you. Calm down, squirt, we’ll have you tucked in before you can say the alphabet backwards,” Taeil promised, which was honestly a dirty trick because Jisung hadn’t learned how to do that yet. Nonetheless, the boy huffed again and sat down at Taeil’s feet, too tired of waiting. Taeil reached down to try and force Jisung off the floor but that plan flopped just as hard as Taeil’s plan to switch to an afternoon shift earlier in the day. “C’mon, Sung, let’s go. I’ll take you to bed for real this time, I swear.”

Jisung peeked one eye open and looked up at Taeil through his mop of bangs, making grabby motions with his hands again. Taeil rolled his eyes. _Seriously? We’re both way too old for this._ Ignoring the screeching protest from his lower back, Taeil picked up Jisung and situated him as comfortably as possible on his hip. _I’m going to regret this so much in the morning_ was the only thing his mind registered while Jisung snuggled himself comfortably into Taeil’s coat like some sort of baby animal.

Mark had to try really, really hard not to coo out loud. Johnny, on the other hand, had no reserves and did just that. Mark had honestly forgotten the other was even here with how quiet he had been since Jisung entered the room. “Aw, look at koala bear Jisung and his Mama Taeil,” came Johnny’s mockery; it held half of its usual annoyance because he was whispering and also holding his hands to his chest like some sort of school girl.

Taeil pretended not to hear Johnny and chose to willingly instead focus on Mark. “Okay, anyway. I’m taking Jisung to bed so thanks, Mark, it was really nice to meet you- ”

“Wait! Um, on Friday night I’m going to have to put Jisung to bed too, right? Well, would you mind if I came with you to see how it’s done because I’ve put other children to sleep before but I don’t know his routine and I’m sorry if this is coming off weird at all but-”

Warmth blossomed in Taeil’s chest at the sound of Mark’s words. He let himself smile- really smile, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the younger man who stopped talking and smiled back just as brightly. “That’s a great idea. Here, follow me and I’ll show you where everything is.” And with that, Taeil wordlessly began down the hallway with a limp Jisung in his arms and a puppy named Mark Lee trailing closely behind; neither looked back to notice the humongous grin splitting Seo Youngho’s face in half.

-

“Moon Taeil? As in _the_ Moon Taeil? No fucking way, absolutely no fucking way! I must have a hearing problem because I did not just hear you say Moon Taeil agreed to let you watch over Jisung. You’re such a shit liar, Mark Lee! Get out of here,” Doyoung snapped the towel he was wiping the café’s counter with at Mark, making the younger boy scoot back further into his seat to attempt an escape into safety. His freshly dyed red hair really suited his personality.

“Why do you think I’m lying? It’s not that big a deal? You know what— ask Johnny if you don’t believe me; he was there!” Mark exclaimed. He took his phone out of his pocket to begin to text Johnny for solid proof when Doyoung stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

They were in the small coffee shop Doyoung worked at in between classes. It was a small, cozy place that most students chose to study in at nearly all times of the day, Mark being included. He originally set out to have some black coffee, maybe a bagel if he was in the mood, and start preparing for an upcoming English exam. Donghyuck said he might stop by after his lecture, too, which was cool because Mark didn’t really like go to restaurants alone, anyway. Being a literature major meant that he enjoyed what he did more than most people, making his study time equivalent to a relaxation time, as well. Things were going smoothly until Doyoung slid into the booth across from him and started slinging dirty rags, demanding answers about a certain Moon Taeil.

“ _Not a big deal_? You obviously don’t know Taeil at all.  This is a big fucking deal considering he never let me and Jaehyun ever look after the kid even _one_ time over the last year and _you_ get the job after a thirty-minute interview? I’ve known him since high school! We were in choir together! We have a picture together in the back of the yearbook and I don’t at least get the chance to take care of Jisunggie for more than thirty minutes when Taeil has to take a phone call? It makes no fucking sense!” Doyoung ranted, words falling from his mouth in rapid succession.

Mark’s eyes widened. “Um? Not to be a douchebag or anything but you and Taeil went to college together, right? I mean, when he was still in school.” The boy in the café uniform nodded suspiciously. “Okay, well, compared to the experience I have with my own friends, who are obviously in college, I wouldn’t exactly call them responsible? Just last week Jaemin nearly set the dorm on fire because he tried to microwave a styrofoam takeout box. That shit explodes, you know? Like, if Jeno hadn’t been there to take it out before our entire building caught on fire we all would have literally died. I assume you and Taeil have similar stories because that’s kind of what college friends do? Nearly murder each other on accident.”

Doyoung took a second to lick his lips, narrowing his eyes at Mark from across the table. “Aren’t you, like, twelve? Why are you so wise? It’s not fair,” he groaned, slamming his forehead into the wooden table. “I guess you’re right, though. Taeil hasn’t changed much since he was a student but I can recall numerous occasions where me or Jaehyun or Yuta or Hansol or Taeyong put each other’s lives at risk either on accident or for the sake of a good time so that part makes sense now. What I still don’t understand is why he chose you- no offense.” His head was still lying against the table but his eyes were looking directly at Mark, who shrugged.        

“I don’t know? I really just think I was the only one Johnny could think of and Taeil only agreed because he wants to go to Yuta’s party.”

The elder rolled his eyes. “Taeil doesn’t want to go to that party any more than he wants to work at that damn hotel. Trust me, I know; as someone who’s personally attended a Nakamoto birthday bash on numerous occasions I have to say if Taeil stayed home there wouldn’t be much to miss. We’d all get drunk, Yuta would cry about how much he loves all of us, Jaehyun would vomit, then we’d all go home and wake up with bitchin’ hangovers, big deal. We’ve done that a thousand times before. Plus, Taeil hates karaoke.”

“Why? Can he not sing well?”

Doyoung rolled his eyes again but this time with more annoyed emphasis. “Taeil has the voice of an angel but that’s beside the point. I’m still pissed he’s never asked me to babysit and that you met him one time and are suddenly the apple of his eye. What am I, dead meat?” Registering what the other meant, Mark’s cheeks began to burn in embarrassment; he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with anyone other than the floor. “Aw, Marky, don’t get all bashful on me! I was just messing with you because it obviously flows both ways right? Aren’t you ‘heart-eyes’ for our Taeil?” he smirked crookedly.

“Why are you like this? Don’t you have a job to be doing? I mean, you normally dress terribly but that outfit is worse than what I’m used to.” Mark retorted, refusing to answer the question. Still, his face felt warm and his thoughts reverted back to how painfully attractive and sweet Taeil was at the same time. It had only been a few hours since their meeting, but Mark found himself wondering how Taeil’s day was going on the other end of the city. He imagined he and Jisung taking the bus together, holding hands and smiling at everyone they passed. Taeil would be wearing the same black suit as the day before but instead of being maroon, this time the tie would be a dark red to compliment his skin. Jisung’s bangs would be swept back and out of his face to illustrate a thin nose that looked eerily like Taeil’s. Neither of them would be tired and the bags under Taeil’s eyes would be as bizarre a concept as something from another universe.

Doyoung picked up the rag to whip it at Mark again, knocking him out of his domestic fantasy. “Hey! Be nice to me, you little shit. I can kick you out of here right now if I want to.”

“Yeah, if your manager doesn’t come out of his office and see you sitting here talking to me and fire you first,” he cackled, watching Doyoung begrudgingly slide out of the booth upon hearing those haunting words. Like Mark, Doyoung was just another college kid desperate for a few bucks; losing this job wouldn’t be smart. Jaehyun would probably kick his ass, too, which wouldn’t be nearly as fun as it sounded.

“Fine, I’m going back to work but don’t come crawling back to the counter wanting a free refill because those days are over,” he grumbled, crossing his arms and heading back towards the front of the store and away from Mark. The sophomore sighed in relief. He liked Doyoung and considered him a friend since they met in their European history class last semester but there were times when he felt like he had enough drama in his life just knowing Donghyuck; Doyoung _and_ Donghyuck was just too much for a nice guy like Mark.

A couple minutes passed in silence and Mark was actually starting to get his readings done when by some sick twist of fate, Kim Donghyuck made his presence known. For a second, Mark thought it was Doyoung come back to smack him again. That thought was quickly thrown out as soon as his eyes honed in on the mischievous lilt of an all too familiar pair of lips, confirming his worst fake fear; Donghyuck had come to see him on his way home, after all. “Don’t look so happy to see me, damn,” said the boy in question. Today he wore his usual ripped jeans, yellow backwards cap, and green hoodie. The weather was starting to get cooler but Donghyuck wore jackets all year because he ‘knew what fashion was and Mark didn’t.’

“Sorry. Rough day,” Mark offered, shrugging.

Donghyuck nodded in understanding. “I feel you on that one, dude.” He cracked his knuckles in the abrasive way he knew Mark hated but continued to talk as if he weren’t irking the older boy’s peace. “You heard from Jaemin or Jeno about dinner tonight? I think they’re going out by themselves so it’s only you and me tonight, my friend. Just like old times.” He exhaled, looking nostalgic.

“Old times? What old times? We eat together like every night? We live together?” Mark rubbed the back of his neck, not quite understanding the context of what Donghyuck was trying to say.

“The old times, y’know? Before we moved off to college, before we met Jeno and Jaemin, before you decided to hide things from me and break our BFFL Pact™ after six long years, making me resort to outside sources that must not be named to find out where you ran off to so mysteriously last night.” In the dim light of the café, Donghyuck’s eyes twinkled wickedly. Mark gulped. _Goddamnit._

“Is this because I didn’t answer your call last night? If so-”

“No, but this all started when you didn’t answer my call because, believe it or not, I was worried about you and your stupid ass. After that everything escalated pretty quickly when I remembered you mentioning something about going to Seo’s place so I called him up to ask if he had seen you and what I got was so much more interesting than a ‘Yeah, Mark’s alive.’ I hit the fucking jackpot, man!” he leaned across the table, grinning smugly. “You wanna know what he told me, Mark?”

Quite frankly Mark really, really didn’t want to know whatever shit Johnny made up to embarrass him but nodded his head in agreement nonetheless. “What’d he tell you?”

Mark didn’t think the devilish grin adorning Donghyuck’s face could grow any wider but it did; Mark hoped his face way okay. “He told me you and _the_ Moon Taeil were making googly eyes at each other for a solid hour. Is that true?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. All I did was meet him then scored the babysitting job for Friday. Johnny’s a fucking liar.”

“Mark Lee, I can’t believe you’re even trying to lie to me right now! Y’know, it’d actually be pretty cute if I didn’t know you better than myself or if my name happened to be Taeil.” The younger cackled, seeing Mark in complete emotional distress. His cheeks were flushed and he tried to cover his face with his hands to hide his massive blush but none of it worked; all of this was hilarious in Donghyuck’s humble opinion.

Mark groaned. “I’m a good person! I don’t deserve this shit, I swear,” he cursed, closing his eyes. His body slumped loosely in the booth, making Donghyuck laugh again. Their whole lives Donghyuck had always taken the crown as drama king between the two of them; seeing Mark act so pitifully over something as trivial as a boy was even more amusing than it should’ve been for the boy in the yellow cap.

Realizing when the joke was over and had run its course, Donghyuck decided enough was enough for one day. He didn’t actually want to see Mark cry, despite popular belief among their friends. “Alright, I’ll stop being the asshole best friend and leave you alone about your precious man in the moon, or whatever it is you probably call him in your head, I promise. No more fucking around- just note cards and junk food for the rest of the night, okay?”

Mark opened his eyes and glared at the public nuisance sitting pleasantly across from him. “I’ll agree on one condition.”

“I’m all ears.”

“Don’t talk to me for the next twenty-four hours.”

Donghyuck sighed but stuck his hand out to shake on it. “Deal."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not sure if i'm going to add more parts to this or not after the next chapter so let me know what you think in the comments!! thank you all have a nice day!!
> 
> twt + curious cat: m4rk1ee


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeil goes to Yuta's birthday party but he would rather be at home watching cartoons with Mark and Jisung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the second to last chapter! i'll post the *finale* later this week! thank you for reading ;; kudos and comments are always welcome! c:
> 
> also: there's implied sexual references but it doesn't involve mark or any of the other minis at all!!! there's also alcohol mentions here but it's brief so be warned!!! 
> 
> (also i know this is late and short but i slipped into those Depressed Moods™ so i couldn't write for a while aaaH)

Tonight was the night Moon Taeil had been dreading since the moment he became Jisung’s legal guardian. He exhaled, checking his watch. Mark was on his way over to watch Jisung for the remainder of the evening and Taeil couldn’t stop triple checking every corner of the apartment to save his life. His palms were starting to sweat as he mentally ran through the list of emergency phone numbers left conveniently for Mark on the refrigerator one last time. He’d only left his own and Johnny’s down and was debating on adding Hansol’s, because he was typically the designated mom friend who stayed sober, when Jisung sighed heavily behind him. The seven-year old was still in his after-school uniform with his shoes off, revealing the new Pokémon socks he’d gotten the week before; he sat silently on the couch simultaneously watching cartoons and Taeil flicker around the apartment anxiously.

It was half past six and Taeil had already gotten himself dressed up in the appropriate attire for the occasion. It’d been over a year since he’d really been out like this and he’d started to second guess his outfit choice until Johnny walked through the door, took one look at Taeil, whistled and proceeded to call him “spicy.” To be honest, the eldest male of the house had no idea why every one of their friends lost their literal and actual shit when he wore anything that wasn’t a suit. Okay, so maybe the choker and stud earrings were a little much, but didn’t all gay men in their early twenties wear skinny jeans? One look at any group photo of “the squad” confirmed this notion because Taeil can’t recall an instance when at least one person _wasn’t_ wearing skinny jeans. Taeil didn’t get why it was such a big deal; even when he’d been in school, he’d worn things similar to his what he’d chosen for tonight. Johnny said it’s because he’s Jisung’s guardian now and that automatically makes him a hot dad; Taeil just thinks he needs new friends.

The sound of Taeil’s bedroom door shutting caught Taeil’s attention. In all his six-foot-one glory, Seo Youngho now stood in the living room, fixing the sleeves on his black bomber jacket. His auburn hair was parted neatly to the side and his single diamond earring shone in the light. As expected, his legs were clad in a pair of black skinny jeans while his torso was covered by a red t-shirt. If Taeil had never laid eyes on him in his life, he’d think Johnny looked pretty handsome. But, because they’d been friends for years, Taeil thought he looked like a try-hard that probably wanted to get laid. “You ready?” he asked, walking into the kitchen to stand next to Taeil. His eyes perused the list in Taeil’s hand before smirking. He turned back to the living room and sat next to Jisung, eyes still alit with something mischievous.

“As I’ll ever be,” Taeil replied. He turned his attention to the dejected seven-year-old who’s focus was on the small television set. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay here with Mark tonight?” Earlier this week he’d broken the news to Jisung that’d he’d have a new babysitter for the night. His reaction was a little on the sad side; he’d given a small smile and said he would be okay but Taeil wasn’t born yesterday and from his facial current gloomy facial expression, it’s clear he wasn’t as happy as he claimed to be to spend the night without Taeil or Johnny.

Jisung tore his attention away from the cartoons to look at his uncle. “Yes,” he said, attempting to smile once again. The corners of his lips quirked upwards but the expression didn’t reach his eyes; Taeil’s chest hurt at the sight.

Sensing Taeil’s dad-radar, Johnny quickly diverted the older man’s attention to another subject worth talking about: Mark Lee. “So, Taeil. Mark texted you and told you he’s on his way, right?”

Taeil nodded, cutting his eyes at Johnny from across the room. “Yeah, why?”

“Just wondering. I mean, you left both our numbers for him even though he has them both, I assume.” Johnny’s mouth was doing that _thing_ Taeil hated where it lifted up only on one side and looked like a regular old smirk but it _wasn’t._

“It’s what you’re supposed to do when you have a babysitter, Seo. I was told by one of my co-workers to do it just in case there’s an emergency; she’s an actual mother, too, so you can cut that weird smirky sh-stuff out right now.” Taeil huffed, setting the list down. Mrs. Choi, a receptionist at The 127, heard him asking for off time and was so shocked by what she was hearing that she couldn’t help but ask why. He then had to go into the long-winded story of being forced into going to Yuta’s birthday party, not wanting to leave Jisung alone with a stranger, and meeting Mark. She’d recommended leaving a list of emergency numbers even if the sitter already had the numbers because in a state of alarm, people sometimes forget the most basic of actions like looking in their contacts for said phone numbers. On top of that, she’d also said to call and check up on them at least once or twice while he was away, but Taeil wasn’t about to tell Johnny that and embarrass himself further.

Johnny held up his hands in defense, holding back what was probably another ugly cackle. “Woah, okay. No need to be so defensive- it was just a question, my friend.”

“If it was a just a question you wouldn’t be as smug as you are right now,” Taeil groaned, laying his head on the kitchen counter. _It’s going to be a long night._ “I don’t know what you think you know about Mark and me but whatever it is, it’s creeping both me and Jisung out.” For the first time that day Jisung cracked a smile, amused at the banter between both his real and pseudo uncle. 

Johnny stretched and put his hands behind his head, looking every bit of the giant overly-attractive sloth he was. “I have no idea what you’re talking about; really and truly- I’m an innocent man!” Jisung giggled from beside him, covering his mouth with his hands in the same way Taeil had a habit of doing. “I totally have absolutely no idea about you and Mark’s little late night texts.”

Taeil’s face burns red even if he and Mark only texted late at night or early in the morning because that’s literally the only free time Taeil has. If he’s not at work, he’s out grocery shopping or running errands or picking Jisung up from school or dropping him off at his dance lessons or doing literally a thousand things so texts really aren’t his priority until he’s at home, tucked into bed with the lights off. “That’s not fair! You know I can only text after I get off work. Plus, I was the one who had to tell him everything because you obviously weren’t going to.”

“It’s okay, Taeil. We know the tru-”

By the grace of God, whatever he was about to say was cut off by a knocking on the door. Before Taeil could react, Johnny leapt off the coach and sped-walked to the door like a proper soccer mom on her workout day. Jisung’s face morphed into one of panic as Johnny swung the apartment door open, revealing an out-of-breath Mark Lee. All at once, Taeil had the urge to vomit then and there because although he one-hundred percent did _not_ have a big fat schoolgirl crush on the babysitter, he sure did feel like it when Mark stepped into the room.

“Hi,” he said, sounding breathless, first looking first at Taeil and then abruptly at Jisung. The boy was still curled up on the couch, no longer focused on the show he was watching. but on Mark. His small brown eyes were now almost comically large and Taeil knew that if he would’ve had his favorite stuffed dog with him, he would’ve been clutching it.

The entire day, Taeil’d been afraid of this exact moment. So many things could happen in a matter of seconds that would determine the fate of the night: Jisung could automatically start crying when he saw Mark, Jisung could cling onto Taeil and refuse to let him leave, Jisung could run to his room and try to hide under the bed, Jisung could plead with Taeil not to leave, Jisung could do _anything_ and Taeil wouldn’t think twice about cancelling his plans to comfort his nephew.

Jisung’s voice was small as he spoke. “Hi.” Taeil breathed out an imaginary sigh of relief. _Thank God._

“Do you remember Mark, Jisunggie?” The air in the room was still thick but Taeil knew he could break the tension and get Jisung to feel comfortable. He walked towards the youngest in the room, placing himself where Johnny was not even a minute ago; he reached over to brush the hair out of Jisung’s face and place a comforting hand on his leg. The seven-year old nodded obediently but said nothing. “He’s going to watch over you tonight while Uncle Johnny and I go see Yuta and Hansol and Doyoung and Jaehyun and Taeyong. You remember all of them, right?” Jisung nodded again, this time smiling a little. “It’s Yuta’s birthday so we’re going to his boring, old person birthday party while you and Mark stay here and have fun.”

Mark nodded vigorously. “Yeah, we’re going to have so much fun without Taeil and Johnny; we don’t need those lame adults!” Taeil wanted to comment that Mark himself was also an adult but decided not to simply because of how genuinely excited he seemed to hang out with a kid and watch cartoons all night.

Jisung giggled again, covering his mouth. Taeil laughed with him, patting his leg softly before standing up again. He leaned down in front of Jisung, making eye contact with the boy. “Be good for me, okay? We’ll be back before you know it. Behave for Mark and don’t try to trick him into letting you stay up late. I love you and I’ll see you in the morning.” He pecked Jisung’s forehead, laughing when the child blushed.

“I love you, too,” Jisung mumbled, trying to act like he was too cool for Taeil’s affections.

“Love ya, lil dude!” Johnny shouted from his place at the living room’s threshold. Jisung rolled his eyes at that, not bothering to reply and instead focus his attention back to the television.

Mark was chuckling as he watched the entire interaction but soon stopped when he saw Taeil approaching. He gulped, hoping it wasn’t obvious he’d been staring at the eldest male’s bare arms; he knew Johnny and Taeil were going to the club but Taeil’s outfit was really _something._ If Mark thought he’d been extremely attractive in a rumpled suit and mussed hair, tonight he was an entire different level of alluring. The thick choker around Taeil’s neck was hard not to stare at because never in a thousand years did Mark picture _the_ Moon Taeil, not-dad dad of the year, sporting one. The choker wasn’t even the best part of the outfit, either- oh no. The most eye-catching aspect was the earrings. Taeil was wearing fucking _earrings_. _Jesus Christ._ His jeans were denim but ripped into two rugged holes at the knees; the shirt he’d chosen was a tank top that not only displayed his wonderfully crafted, tanned arms, but also dipped down low to showcase his sides and a peak of his torso. Mark could feel himself starting to sweat.

“Alright, so we’re going to leave now but Jisung’s bed time is officially at eight but you can let him stay up to nine since it’s the weekend and if you have any problems, I mean any at all, don’t hesitate to call or text me. All emergency numbers are on the kitchen counter; help yourself to any food or drinks. Jisung’s DVDs are in the cupboard below the TV, his pajamas are folded on his bed, and there’s mac n’ cheese in the pantry that he’ll probably want for supper. Everything else he’ll probably tell you or you already know,” Taeil recited, having gone over the mental list of things he needed to say. “Oh! And make sure he brushes his teeth before going to bed.”

Mark grinned and nodded his head in understanding of everything Taeil just went over. It was cute how serious he was about Jisung’s routine. Under the hot dad persona, he really was the same dork he’d met on Monday night. “Got it. Now go! We’ll be fine, Taeil, I swear,” Mark promised. He put both his hands on Taeil’s ~~warm~~ shoulders, an action he’d seen Taeil do to Jisung, and swiveled him around so he was facing the door. “I’ll call you if Jisung even frowns, okay? I promise.”

From the doorway, Johnny smiled softly. _What a cute little family._

“Alright, alright! I get it, we’ll leave,” Taeil laughed, a little shocked at Mark’s sudden boldness. “We’ll be back at around one or two but I might leave early because I’m not much of a party person. I’ll call you, though.”

Mark nodded in affirmation. “Got it.”

“Okay, now I’m really leaving. Bye, Jisung!” he shouted, waving. Jisung jumped, startled by the sudden outburst, but then waved back with a smile. Turning back to Mark Taeil said, “Thanks again for doing this on such short notice, I know your college schedule probably isn’t easy.” He was gradually stepping back with slow steps, making his way towards the door. “We’ll see you later tonight; the payment’s in the pantry under the mac n’ cheese- bye!”

And with that, Johnny and Taeil both booked it out of the apartment, laughing their asses off. Mark sputtered to say a thank you back, but didn’t get the chance to; all he was left with was a slammed door and a seven-year old with cool socks. It was going to be a long night.

-

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat drug in!” was the first thing Taeil was greeted with when he entered the club. He and Johnny were the last to arrive seeing as everyone else was already seated comfortably in the large booth at the back. Hansol had probably reserved the table a month in advanced because he was such a kiss ass when it came to Yuta. “I didn’t think you’d actually come,” Yuta greeted, sliding out of his seat to greet Taeil.

It’d been at least a month since he’d talked to Yuta in person but not much had changed since then. His hair was still brown, his eyebrows were still better than Taeil’s, and he was still practically married to Hansol. He was still annoying as hell, too. “Of course I came. Your boyfriend and Johnny plotted against me so I really had no choice.”

From behind Yuta, Hansol started to laugh. His blonde hair had gotten longer since the last time they’d met for lunch, but Taeil thought it looked good. “Don’t act like you aren’t thankful to have one night out of the whole year off, Taeil. Johnny also tells me the nanny is quite the catch.” He wiggled his eyebrows, smirking; the entire table let out a collective _ooooooooh_.

“You guys act like you never see me! I literally hung out with Jaehyun and Doyoung last weekend. And shut the fuck up, Ji Hansol. Mark’s not a _nanny_ and I’m still mad at your sasquatch ass for setting me up. This party better be the most lit shit I’ve ever witnessed or I’m leaving,” Taeil snapped. He was tired of everyone acting as if he chose to give up his social life in order to be Jisung’s make-shift dad when everyone knew damn well that that wasn’t the case. Taeil’s brother was fucking dead; he was all Jisung had left and would continue to come before social events every single time whether Taeil’s friends understood that or not. And really, he understood where they were coming from. They missed the Taeil they knew in college who studied all night and cracked bad jokes all day but things were very different now whether they liked it or not. “Oh, and happy birthday, Yuta,” he added, smiling in what he hoped could be read as an apology for his mini-rant.

Taeyong, whose newly silver hair was hidden under a backwards black baseball cap, sensed the growing awkwardness. “Alright, alright; Taeil, don’t leave too early and Hansol, stop being an inconsiderate dick. We’re all friends here so can we get hammered, sing happy birthday, and move on with our lives already?” Everyone seated at the group’s table erupted into laughter; Taeyong had never been one to beat around the bush. Feeling guilty for dampening the mood of Yuta’s party, Hansol and Taeil both apologized to one another with a smile and a handshake. “Okay, now that that’s been taken care of, let’s get this party started,” Taeyong finished, grinning widely. He was already nursing his first drink, or maybe second- Taeil couldn’t really tell. From beside Taeyong, Jaehyun whooped loudly and if they were in any other place than a darkly lit club with booming music, Taeil would’ve wanted to melt into the floor.

Taeil hadn’t even gotten to sit down yet when everyone started to get out of the big booth two at a time in order to kick things off, like Taeyong suggested. _So much for talking about old times,_ Taeil’s inner-pessimist huffed. Johnny and Ten made their way to the dance floor while Taeyong, Doyoung, and Jaehyun headed straight towards the bar; Hansol and Yuta had magically disappeared in the struggle to leave the table, and before Taeil would register what was happening, he was left standing at the head of an empty table save for Kun and Sicheng. Not knowing what to do with himself, Taeil took a seat next to Sicheng and fought the itch to check his phone for updates from Mark.

“Long time, no see, Moon,” Kun greeted. In his hand was a glass of what could only be a mixed drink; for the occasion, he’d dressed up similarly to Johnny in a bomber jacket with intricate flower designs. Sicheng was nestled cozily into Kun’s other side, laying his head atop the latter’s shoulder. Something in Taeil’s heart clenched at the sight, instantly drawing his thoughts to a certain Mark Lee.

The younger male attached to Kun didn’t appear to be drinking anything but water. “Ah, I know. It’s been a while. How have you been?” Taeil asked, deciding not to ask why the pair decided to stay put instead of running to the bar or dance floor like everyone else had.

Kun smiled and cast his gaze over Sicheng, whose eyes were closed almost as if he were asleep. “I’m doing great, actually. School is still school but graduation is right around the corner, thank God.” Last time Taeil checked, Kun was a pharmacy major; just thinking about all the math classes he had to take gave Taeil a headache. “Me and Sicheng here are moving in together after I graduate even though he still has a year left.”

Taeil nodded, happy for the couple. They’d been together nearly as long as Yuta and Hansol, meaning they started dating when Taeil was in his first year of college. It was about time they moved in with one another but Kun had been _so_ adamant about staying roommates with Taeyong until graduation that Sicheng apparently put up with it and compromised. “Oh, really? Congrats, then. I’m happy for you guys.”

“Thanks! We’re happy, too.” Sicheng made a noise that was probably supposed to be a representation of his agreement. Kun ignored it in favor of asking Taeil about his own life. “How’re things with Jisung? How’s the little guy doing?”

The last time Kun had seen Jisung was three months ago before the boy had a growth spurt that made Taeil want to scream because suddenly none of his clothes fit anymore. “Ah, he’s doing good, I think. His teachers say he’s opening up more to his classmates and that’s all I can really ask for, y’know? He’s a tough kid.”

“Yeah, he is,” Kun agreed, patting Taeil on the back comfortingly. “Isn’t that Mark Lee guy watching him while you’re here?”

At the mention of Mark’s name, Taeil found his face coloring again. He sighed. _Here we go again._ “Um, yeah? Why? Do you know him?” Kun’s answer was only a knowing smile. “No, really, why does everyone but me seem to know who Mark Lee is? I swear to God you’re all hiding something from-”

Kun didn’t let Taeil finish; he couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Oh, Taeil. Taeil, Taeil, _Taeil_.” He took a deep breath then checked on Sicheng’s resting form beside him, making sure he hadn’t shaken him too much with his sudden snickering. “I can’t believe Johnny hasn’t told you yet.”

“Told me _what_?”

“That he’s been friends with Mark for over a year-”

“I know that!” Taeil cut Kun off, feeling even more frustrated.

Kun rolled his eyes. “Would you let me finish? Damn. Anyway, Mark and Johnny have been friends for over a year. They hang out every once in a while and obviously Johnny talks about Jisung and you a lot because you’re kind of the center of his life? You guys all live together like some kind of homosexual nuclear family, honestly-”

“Okay, I get it-”

“-and while Johnny blathers on and on about how he has to run home after class to help Jisung bathe or whatever it is parents do, Mark listens. Really, _really_ listens. You know why?” Taeil shook his head, not having any idea where the fuck Qian Kun was going with this. He’d only been here an hour and he already wanted to go home because of this weird ass conspiracy theory about Mark Lee’s mysteriousness. “Because Johnny’s lock screen is a picture of _you_ , Jisung, and Seo himself at your apartment on what I think was Jisung’s first day of school this past semester?” Taeil remembers the picture like it had been taken yesterday. Johnny’d gotten the lady across the hall to take it for them before Jisung and Taeil left for the first day at Jisung’s new school. The little boy had his hair slicked back and to the side, looking as adorable and handsome as ever. At the memory, Taeil feels his heart grow warm; the thought of Johnny not only having it as his wallpaper, but lock screen, as well, triggered another wave of extreme fondness for his best friend.

“I know the picture you’re talking about but how does this relate to Mark? I’m confu-”

Kun groaned. “Jesus Christ, Taeil. Let me finish,” he took yet another deep breath then focused back on the story at hand. “As I was saying, Johnny’s lock screen is that picture of your little family on the first day of school. Johnny said that when he first met Mark, the kid thought you and Johnny were married or some shit- isn’t that funny?” He laughs again, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. “Johnny told him that you guys weren’t romantically involved but you were _very_ single.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Are you telling me that Johnny Seo’s trying to set _me_ up with _Mark_? He’s, like, twenty or something, Kun! Holy shit. _Holy shit;_ I can’t believe that fucker-”

“Let me finish the story before you black out over there, drama queen. Ugh, you’re so annoying when you’re sober, you know that?” Taeil squawked, indignantly covering his heart with his hands. “Yeah, so, as I was going to say before you rudely interrupted me _again_ , Johnny told Mark you were single but you know Mark- or you do now, I guess. The poor dude’s a bag of nerves and could never pull it together enough to actually do anything about his little crush on you, so Johnny had to put on his big boy pants and do it for him. He has no idea Seo’s doing this, either, if that makes you feel better.”

Taeil’s eyes were the size of saucers; his mouth was dry as he tried to find the words to say because how was he supposed to reply to this? How was _anyone_ supposed to reply to this? Not only had he been tricked into coming to this party, but he’d also been fooled into meeting Mark in the first place. One side of Taeil wanted to be mad at Johnny because he knew how hard Taeil had taken the death of his brother and picking up the father figure role in Jisung’s life, knowing the last thing Taeil needed was a boyfriend but the other half was immensely thankful because you don’t just meet people like Mark Lee on the street every day.

“Okay.” Taeil breathed, looking away from Kun and closing his eyes.

“Okay? That’s it? You’re not mad?”

Taeil chuckled. “Oh, no. I’m pissed but right now I have other things to do that don’t include shoving my foot up Johnny’s ass.”

Kun guffawed, awakening the sleepy Sicheng. The second Chinese male startled then relaxed when he recognized that the strange noise wasn’t a dying animal, but Kun laughing. “Oh shit! Call me when you get around to that, okay? I wanna be there.”

“Will do. But, hey- I think I’m gonna go now so if anyone asks where I am, tell them I got sick and had to go home early,” said Taeil, squirming to get out of the booth as quickly as possible. He couldn’t stand to stay in the club for another minute with a drunk Kun and half-conscious Sicheng. They were great friends but the thought of going home to Mark and Jisung and Scooby-Doo was way better.

Kun’s lips quirked in that knowing smile again. “Your secret’s safe with me. Oh! And if Johnny asks who told you don’t say my name or I’ll be forced to change my name and live in the shadows the rest of my natural born life.”

Taeil rolled his eyes. _Now who’s the drama queen?_ “Got it.” He was finally standing up again, looking around for any sign of the others. The top of Johnny’s head was visible in the sea of bodies but other than that, no one else could be spotted. Taeil thanked the stars for giving him this golden opportunity to leave without being noticed. With one last smile and wave, Taeil turned away from the table and started his trek back home.

Outside the club the streets were still bustling with cars and couples and groups of friends all laughing together. The time on Taeil’s phone read three past eight, meaning that Jisung should be already on his way to bed if Mark chose to follow the schedule. There was only one message displayed on Taeil’s lock screen and without reading the contact name, Taeil knew it was Mark.

**To: Taeil**

**From: Mark**

_putting jisung to bed! he ate dinner a little while after u left and then we watched yo-kai watch together. he’s putting on his pajamas right now but asked me to put on scooby-doo until he falls asleep if that’s okay? i just want to be sure it’s alright with you!_

Taeil’s cheeks flushed as he read the message even if it had nothing particularly flustering about it. Picturing Mark in such a domestic setting- in his own house, even- made Taeil feel warm all over again. He felt like he’d just received a mushy text from a significant other and not just the babysitter asking if it was okay to put on a movie before bed by how much he was blushing. There was a knot the size of a fist in his stomach; he hated confrontation and confessions and _feelings_ in general but he had to get to the bottom of whatever _this_ was with Mark because maybe he wasn’t the only blubbering idiot with a crush.

**To: Mark**

**From: Taeil**

_It’s alright! I’m actually coming home now, so don’t worry about taking the movie off or anything. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes._

Mark’s response was immediate.

**To: Taeil**

**From: Mark**

_ok! i’ll be here :)_

Taeil gulped. _Here we go_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unedited as usual sorry aaaaH (forgive me for using the same phrases nd words 10000 times i know my sins ok i'll fix it later!!) owidjwioedj thank you for reading again ilu all have a nice week!
> 
> twt + curious cat: m4rk1ee


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And they all live happily ever after! (Well, except for Donghyuck's face and Mark's pillows.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone!! this is the final chapter!! c:
> 
> psa: since this is over i'll be focusing more on writing one shots every week bc i'm trying to get my writing juices flowing again so feel free to message me on tumblr (@trademarklee) if u wanna chat or suggest something or just talk to me about my stuff!! also: there might be extra fluff chapters added to this later but idk!!! tell me if you'd be interested :o also pt. 2: i'm looking for someone to beta my stuff so if ur interested pls message me on tumblr!! 
> 
> and yes i know this is almost a month late but college sux and i got a new dog and im trying to have a social life too so??? im sorry! thank u for sticking with me all this time! :+)))

The apartment was silent when Taeil stepped through the door at eight forty-eight; catching a cab on a busy Friday night was easier said than done, apparently. He willed himself to stay as quiet as possible as he shut the door behind him, removing his shoes with a muffled thud. The echo of what was more than likely Jisung’s TV could just barely be heard over the thick blanket of stillness, making Taeil smile to himself before stopping himself and taking a deep, shaky breath. His heart hammered painfully in his chest as it had the entire ride home and his palms were slick with sweat that could only result from being so sickeningly anxious. Part of Taeil wanted to simply thank Mark for watching Jisung for the few hours he had gone to the party and send him on his merry way back to the student dorms but the other, bolder half of Taeil yearned to say something _, anything,_ to the younger about how he felt.

Throughout the cab ride home, Taeil’d thought long and hard about what he would actually say to Mark once they were alone. There would be no Johnny to offer comedic relief and there would be no Jisung to stop Taeil from saying what he needed to say this time around. It would just be him, Mark, and their _feelings._ He could already feel the bile rising in his throat just picturing it: he and Mark walk into the kitchen, sit down, Mark would smile that really pretty smile and nervously ask “What is this all about?” while Taeil tries not to have a full blown panic attack as he stutters and explains that he kind of sort of may want to hold Mark’s hand in a romantic way and that it’s okay if he doesn’t feel the same way or that Qian Kun’s a fucking _liar_ , he just had to get this off his chest before he literally combusted into a pile of anxiety-ridden goo because puddles of goo can’t exactly raise seven-year olds, now, can they?

Taeil continued to play mental tug-of-war as he made his way through the apartment without so much as a sound. In a matter of seconds, he found himself standing outside Jisung’s closed bedroom door; the noise of the TV was much louder now, confirming that the two were, in fact, watching Scooby-Doo. Taeil gulped, his tremoring hand ghosted over the door knob.

_Now or never._

The door creaked quietly as Taeil nudged it open, catching the attention of a still very much awake Mark Lee. The younger man was sitting in the big blue chair beside Jisung’s bed that Johnny had bought when he’d first moved in to make Jisung’s before bed story time easier on both Johnny and Taeil. He was still wearing the same sweatpants and grey soccer t-shirt he’d come over in, but now his hair was a sleepy mop atop his head; dozens of ivory strands were sticking out all over and it quickly became clear to Taeil that he’d been running his fingers through it almost compulsively since the last time he’d laid eyes on the other about two hours ago. Mark’s eyes were bright against the darkness in the room, meeting Taeil’s the moment the door was all the way open, causing Taeil to all but dry heave.

In the bed beside Mark was Jisung, tucked snuggly into the covers. His hair was splayed across the pillow and his eyes were closed, the light from the TV illuminating his face amongst the shadows; he looked even younger than usual in his unconscious state, Taeil couldn’t help but notice. Jisung being asleep didn’t surprise Taeil, either, because much like himself, his nephew fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow every night. It was a blessing and a curse, Taeil supposed. On most occasions, Taeil thanked whatever God was above that he never had trouble fighting the seven-year old into his pajamas but tonight, Taeil wished Jisung would’ve been like every other rambunctious kid he knew and desperately fought sleep because maybe he wouldn’t have had to immediately face Mark and the elephant in the room that was his emotions that way.

A delicate smile curved Taeil’s lips as he took in the scene ahead of him. It was cute to catch a glimpse of Mark’s long limbs sprawled over the chair that Taeil could recall himself or Johnny using a myriad of times to lull Jisung to sleep after a bought of nightmares or to simply read him a story of some prince and princess who would go off and successfully slay the dragon on a stormy night when none of them could sleep; it really felt like Mark _belonged_ there, in their shabby apartment with the shitty water temperature regulations and ridiculously bland wallpaper.

Taeil’s chest tightened as he mentally pictured Mark in other places in the apartment like washing dishes after supper or curled up on the couch or just at the thermostat in the hallway. In general, seeing Mark in such a domesticated state inside his own house with his own family made Taeil’s heart flutter and constrict all at once. His ridiculously adorable bedhead and droopy eyes didn’t help squelch Taeil’s fondness for him, either; they just made things worse so much worse.

By the time Taeil realized he was zoning out, Mark was already lifting himself up from the chair and raking a hand through his hair yet again, stretching his arms and back all the while. It was only nearing nine o’clock but Mark’s mild yawns made it feel much, much later in the evening. Taeil fought off his own fatigue as he wordlessly beckoned Mark out of the sleeping boy’s room and into the hallway. Careful to not wake Jisung up like Johnny had on Monday night, Taeil made sure to close the door behind Mark before leading the younger down the hall and into the living room where Jisung had been stationed earlier.

All the lights in the apartment were off save for the lamp beside the couch and Taeil was thankful for the dimness because what he was about to say was going to be incredibly embarrassing and his face would be as red as a fire hydrant the entire time, without a doubt. Mark didn’t ask any questions about where Taeil was taking him or why he couldn’t just leave already and Taeil found himself being thankful for a second time. He tried not to peek at the twenty-year old too much as they sat down on the couch together, side-by-side, knees touching, because although Mark was just wearing simple street clothes, Taeil couldn’t stop thinking about how fucking _soft_ he looked in the lamp light.

A minute passed in heavy silence before Taeil gathered the courage to speak up. “How was he?” he asked, deciding to not jump head first and break his neck just yet.

“He was fine, I think. Like, thirty-minutes after you guys left he wanted supper so we both ate mac n’ cheese at the counter. I found my payment, by the way! Thanks,” he grinned, flashing his annoyingly perfect teeth at Taeil, whose stomach had started to twist. “After that we just watched cartoons until he said it was time for him to get changed and go to bed.”

“Did he ask you to read a story?”

Mark looked the smallest bit bashful. “No, but he did ask me about my favorite generation of Pokémon and that wasn’t something I could answer in a minute’s time so that was kind of his bedtime story, I think?” He admitted, laughing and fiddling with his fingers in his lap. Taeil’s heart swelled _again_. _Goddamnit._ “He still wanted me to put on Scooby Doo even if he was falling asleep, though, which is why I texted you earlier.”

Taeil nodded, turning to finally look at the other. “Yeah, that’s completely okay, don’t worry about it! He normally asks us to put on a movie or something before he passes out if he thinks he might wake up again later in the night, so I’m not surprised.” He took a deep breath before attempting to change the subject. “Kun said hi, by the way.” Which wasn’t the complete truth but wasn’t a total lie, either. They did talk about Mark but the Chinese man in no way asked Taeil to greet the youngest when he saw him again. The fact that Kun wasn’t sober enough to remember their exact conversation eased Taeil’s mind in the slightest because he knew there was no way Kun could expose him for this later, anyway.

At the mention of Kun, Mark’s face lit up. _Everyone really **does** know each other, hot damn._ “He was there? Sweet! He’s such a great guy, really smart, too. He saved my ass in advanced trig last year,” he confessed.

“You took advanced trig as a freshman?” Taeil dared ask, eyes wide in surprise.

Mark became sheepish again, diverting his gaze to his lap. “Um, yeah. I took a lot of extra credits in high school,” he explained. “That’s how I met Johnny, too. We had physics together I think it was? I met Doyoung, who I _know_ you know, in European history, which is only for upperclassman or at least that’s what my freshman advisor told me last year.”

“Oh, trust me. I know Kim Doyoung but I wish I didn’t,” Taeil laughed, attempting to use humor to divert his thoughts from focusing too much on how much of a goddamn intellectual Mark Lee was. And Taeil thought he felt bad about dropping out _before_ he met Mark. “Ah, I’m kidding. Doyoung is like a brother to me.”

“He told me you guys met in high school, yeah?” Taeil nods again, allowing Mark to go on. The boy in sweatpants pauses for a moment of contemplation before continuing. “I really don’t think I should be telling you this but Doyoung is like super pissed that you let me watch Jisung tonight after we’d only met once but have never let Doyoung, your so-called best friend, take care of him.”

At the mention of Doyoung being his “best friend,” Taeil guffawed, muffling the noise into his hand; he _really_ didn’t want a repeat of Monday. “Doyoung is one of my closest friends, yes, but I think it’s pretty obvious that Johnny’s my actual best friend, right?” He shakes his head in disbelief. _Not only is Kun probably a liar but now Doyoung, too?_

Taeil turns his head to glance at Mark who he finds is already looking back at him, posture slumped over so his elbows rest on his knees with one hand rubbing the back of his neck and the other serving as a resting place for his jaw. The light in the room is better than it was in Jisung’s room so Taeil is now able to make out a light blush dusted on the apples of Mark’s cheeks. Taeil stills; maybe Kun wasn’t making shit up after all.

Mark’s laughter was awkward. “Oh, um, yeah. It’s super obvious to everyone. Even people who don’t know you guys can tell you’re close!”

This was Taeil’s golden opportunity. He faked a snort, hoping Mark couldn’t sense his abrupt shift in mood before saying, “Kun told me you thought Johnny and I were married before you got to know him better. Is that true?”

Unlike earlier at the club, the air while discussing Johnny’s lock screen was much more heavy; Taeil could feel the tension surrounding them like a thick blanket of fog as the seconds ticked on and neither of them said anything. Mark’s eyes were squeezed shut and it appeared as if he were wishing himself away from Taeil’s apartment with just the intensity of the action. The older chose to say nothing and let Mark have a few moments to himself because the question at hand evidently evoked _something_ powerful him. It was only when Mark exhaled loudly that Taeil realized he was ready to continue the conversation with renewed vigor. There was a glint of something Taeil couldn’t read in Mark’s eyes but as the Lee boy spoke, Taeil started to believe he knew exactly Mark was emoting through his warm, brown irises.

The hand that had been previously scratching Mark’s neck was now clenched at his side. He looked Taeil in the eye, taking on a confident front that Taeil had no idea someone as easy-going as Mark Lee could muster. “Yeah, it is,” he paused and for a moment Taeil wanted to grab his hand but stopped himself just in time because although they were friends and Mark was sitting so close and was so beautiful and so utterly adorable, it would be completely out of line to touch him without his permission. Plus, they were kind of having a serious conversation at the moment. “Before Johnny told me about you being just his apartment mate and best friend I thought you two were some sort of high school sweethearts who got married right after graduation and adopted Jisung to start your own family; to be honest, I figured Johnny was going back to school to get a degree to support his son and husband. He looks a lot older than he actually is, y’know.” Mark chuckled, looking supple again.

I really had no idea until Seo and I were at the library together a month or two after we first met; we were in the middle of working on some stupid writing assignment that was complete bullshit for a physics class when Johnny got a call from you and excused himself from our study room for, like, ten minutes to talk on the phone with you. When he came back he explained who you were and that he _always_ answers the phone when you call because it could be a Jisung-related emergency. I even asked him if Jisung was his son and he laughed at me like the dick he is before clarifying that he’s in no way related to Jisung, but you are and the whole entire shebang.”

The story lasted a good twenty minutes and my life wouldn’t have changed at all if Johnny had just moved on but _no_ ; he then went on to show me a thousand pictures of Jisung, himself, and _you_.” Mark sighed; he smiled with no teeth, just a quirk of the corners of his lips. Taeil’s heart was racing. “I’m going to be honest with you, Taeil. From the moment I saw your face on Johnny’s phone, I was attracted to you. I thought you were really, _really_ handsome, like something out of a Disney movie, okay? I was tongue-tied the moment Johnny told me you were single because I couldn’t stop asking myself how the _fuck_ someone as good-looking as you could be single.” He reached for Taeil’s hand, eyes searching the twenty-four-year old’s face closely. Without much thought, Taeil obliged, placing his palm gently in Mark’s. They both grinned. “Then Johnny went on to tell me how you became Jisung’s guardian, how fucking hard you work to provide for your family, and how you’ve never, ever regretted dropping out of school to be there for Jisung and that kind of just got to me, y’know? Even though we’d never met face-to-face I thought the world of you but I couldn’t really do anything about it because I was just a freshman with a big ass crush on some would-be senior who’s way out of my league, anyway.” Taeil squeezes Mark’s hand, easing the boy with the black hair.

“Oh, and yeah, Johnny knew I liked you but he promised to not mention my existence to you at all because I wanted to try to approach you on my own somehow.” Mark rolled his eyes at himself. “You see how well that worked out,” he admitted, giggling. “I still hadn’t made any progress on how to get to you without Johnny’s help when Seo himself called me up and told me he had ‘the golden opportunity’ for me which, as we all now know, started with getting you to Yuta’s birthday party and ended with me as Jisung’s babysitter.” At that, Taeil laughed, scooting closer to Mark so that their clasped hands rested on Taeil’s thigh. Mark fixed his posture, now sitting upright, but never looking away from Taeil. “I’m not a child expert or anything and my major is just literature, so I really have no experience with young children other than my best friend’s baby brother, but I knew that I had to give Johnny’s plan a try which is why I’m here tonight, in this apartment, confessing to you,” he finished, grinning abashedly.

For not the first time that evening, Taeil was speechless. Mark Lee had just poured his entire fucking heart out and Taeil couldn’t even find the strength to do anything but gawk at the man in front of him because sure, Taeil’s friends always joked about him being good looking and of course he’s been in relationships with people before but _this_ was a new feeling he’d never come into contact with before. The way Mark looked at him like he was more than some pathetic dropout who worked day in and day out for an inch more than minimum wage made Taeil want to cry like a giant baby; he hadn’t even realized his eyes were growing misty until Mark quietly wrapped his arm around Taeil’s shoulder, bringing his head into Mark’s chest. Through his premature tears, Taeil laughed, even more shocked now by the sudden affection than before when Mark actually confessed.

“This is okay, right?” Mark whispered, leaning them backwards to lay more comfortably on the couch.

Taeil snuggled closer to Mark, getting used to the new position. He hooked one arm behind Mark’s back and the other around his waist in an effort to cling onto him as much as possible. Taeil usually wasn’t one for PDA or cuddling but a really nice guy just completely stole his heart so he figured he’d make an exception just this one time. “Of course,” Taeil replied, closing his eyes. Mark was so warm and soft and a thousand other words Taeil had already mentally called him a million times that it was hard to keep himself from falling asleep right there—it had been a long ass day, after all. “I like you, too, you know,” he mumbled sleepily, drowsiness clear in his voice. “A lot, actually.”

Underneath Taeil, Mark’s chest rumbled. “I know, Johnny told me.”

Taeil huffed but said nothing for a few minutes, making Mark think he’d actually fallen asleep. When he spoke again, he sounded even groggier and cuter than before. “Kun told me you liked me, too, so take that, Mark Lee…”

Mark muffled his snickering in his hand as he carded his fingers through Taeil’s hair. _Adorable._ “Go to bed, you sleepyhead. I’ll still be here when you wake up,” he promised, resting his head on Taeil’s. Taeil mumbled an ‘okay’ and within minutes, the pair were simultaneously transported into dreamland.

-

“So, how’d it go?” Donghyuck fired, his booming question acting as a greeting to Mark the moment he walked into the dorm. “You didn’t answer any of my texts _again_.” Mark completely ignored his flat mate and best friend, instead choosing to march right past him and into his room. “Oh, come on! I know something happened because you didn’t come last night!”

Mark rolled his eyes, dropping to his bed and wrapping himself into his comforter in an effort to muffle Donghyuck’s nasally accusations. “It’s none of your business!” he yelled back, hoping the younger would get the hint and leave him alone for a while.

As expected, the boy with bronzed skin and an impish smile stalked into Mark’s shared room with Jeno as if it were his own. He sat down on Jeno’s unoccupied bed and smirked at the bundle of blankets Mark was hiding under. “You can’t hide under there forever, dude. Just spill the tea so I can leave you alone already.” Mark didn’t budge an inch, acting as if he couldn’t hear Donghyuck at all. _Time to bring out the big guns._ “Fine, be that way. Johnny texted me earlier this morning, anyway-” he started, but was soon cut off my Mark’s inaudible grumbling.

“Will you two _ever_ leave me alone? How do you even know Johnny? He’s _my_ friend,” Mark inquired, raising from his grave of blankets grouchily.

Donghyuck put his hand over his heart and pouted. “You wound me, Markle Angelo, you really do.” He signed dramatically then cut to the chase. “I know Johnny because you know Johnny but that’s not the point right now, okay. I need the juicy details on what went down with a certain Moon Taeil because my sources tell me that Youngho walked in on you two cuddling on the couch together like a couple of kittens.” Mark’s neck bloomed red. Donghyuck wasn’t wrong but the way he said it was so embarrassing that Mark wanted to hide in a hole for the rest of eternity; leave it to Johnny and Donghyuck to ruin such a good moment.

“When you say it like that it kind of makes me want to vomit and swallow it so fuck off, will you? Okay so, yeah, me and Taeil did cuddle on the couch last night and fall asleep tangled up with each other like some cliché ninety-nine cent romance novel and yes, Johnny, and Ten, did walk in on us this morning, and _yes_ I did confess-”

Donghyuck choked. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! You finally grew some balls and confessed after a fucking year of pathetic pining? Damn,” a pause, _“Goddamn_. I never knew you had in in you, Mark Lee. Congratulations!” His grin was wide and Mark knew that under all the profanity and name-calling, Donghyuck was genuinely happy for him.

Mark smiled lazily. “Thanks. It went way better than I expected, to be honest.”

“Yeah, no shit! You went from confession to domestic trash within an hour. I’m lowkey jealous because I’ve seen pictures of your hot dad boyfriend and he really _is_ hot, like, you hit the visual jackpot.” Mark cackled as his best friend drooled over Taeil who he’d come to know was much more than his looks, although they were a nice bonus. Still, someone calling Taeil Mark’s boyfriend made his ears burn. “Does he have a brother?”

“Get out,” Mark dead-panned, ready to launch a pillow at the other. He’d entertained Donghyuck for long enough and this was the last straw.

Donghyuck held up his hands in surrender, pleading. “Okay, okay, I get it I’m going a little overboard over here but I just have one more question and I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the day, I swear.”

Mark considered his options. He could either A) throw Donghyuck out and lock the door then plug in headphones to silence his begging or B) play his game and get it over with so he could get some sleep, have time to study for that upcoming American literature quiz and meet Taeil at his apartment in time for dinner with Johnny and Jisung. He groaned, lowering the pillow; option B it was. “You have ten seconds to ask and get out of my room.”

“I don’t even need that long-”

“Ten, nine, eight, seven-”

“Slow down, geez! All I’m asking is if Taeil is your boyfriend or not,” Donghyuck all but shrieked, eyeing the pillow under Mark’s palm wearily.

Mark snorted. “You really have to ask?”

“Well, you were the one being shady as fuck about it,” Donghyuck scoffed. “I was just wondering if he was still on the market because he’s good-looking, I’m good-looking, it could be a match made in heaven, don’t you thin-” Donghyuck’s narcissistic rant is cut short by a pillow hitting him square in the mouth. “Ow, what the fuck, Mark? I was joking! I-”

“Get out,” Mark repeated, already picking up another pillow. “I won’t hesitate to call Chenle.” The mention of Chenle sent a cold shock down Donghyuck’s spine; he visibly froze.

“You win this round, asshole.” Donghyuck admitted, picking himself up off the bed and heading to the door, tired of having things thrown at him. “But if things don’t work out between you and Moon give him my num-” Mark lobbed the second pillow, missing Donghyuck’s head by a hair. “Alright, I’ll stop! Damn, take a joke!” He cried, stumbling out of the room. Mark wasted no time in getting up from his bed to slam the door behind him and lock it. Donghyuck was just a bit too extra for Mark to handle sometimes and this was one definitely of those times.

Mark crawled back into bed and pulled out his phone about to check and see if he had anything from Taeil when he got a text from Donghyuck.

**To: Mark**

**From: Donghyuck**

_sorry 4 being a dick. im happy 4 u and ur dude. i luv u._

Mark smiled, instantly forgiving Donghyuck for his antics until his phone buzzed again.

**To: Mark**

**From: Donghyuck**

_also do u know if we have any pizza rolls? im hungry af my guy_

Mark rolled his eyes, throwing his phone across the room onto Jeno’s bed.

 _Never mind_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owdjwoiedj i'm sad this is over but also relieved bc this was an absolute monster to write lmao but!!! i'll start editing and fixing mistakes now :^) 
> 
> thanks again for reading and commenting and all the kudos! bless u all! i love u guys! thank you again!!
> 
> (i know the ending is random but i thought it was cute sorry eodjowidj)


	5. Bonus: Merry Jisungmas!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jisung's birthday is on Christmas and Mark and Taeil are in a tough situation when they think they have to explain to him that his birthday is not, in fact, a national holiday and that Santa doesn’t give the whole world gifts to celebrate his conception.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone! christmas has been over for A Long Time but i still wanted to post this although i knew it'd be v late :3 i hope u don't mind my tardiness too much! i hope u all had wonderful holidays! ♡
> 
> note: i know jisung's birthday isn't actually on xmas so Have Mercy On Me :') also i don't know anything about any other branches of christianity other than what i've learned from My Catholic Roots so i made mark catholic in order to avoid ignorance wjdowjdei oh and the beginning is a lil rough and choppy just warning you now i was a bit rusty when writing this aaaaaaaaaH anyway! enjoy! :-)
> 
> also: i'm posting Something Else later this week .... *side eye emoji* ..... and there's hints hidden in here somewhere ..... :)

It was halfway through the first week of December before both Taeil and Mark could find time in their schedules to decorate the Moon-Seo apartment for Christmas together and to be honest, Taeil wasn’t really much of a holiday guy anyway. He liked Halloween just fine, but that was about as far as his festivity meter reached, which wasn’t much at all, according to Johnny who wanted to practically paint the walls red and green the day after Thanksgiving much to Taeil’s disturbance.

To put it shortly, Johnny had enough holiday spirit for the both of them and that had never been an issue until Jisung came along and threw a wrench in Taeil’s ba humbug life style. He didn’t want to be _that_ asshole who didn’t put up a Christmas tree for his kid just because he was a lazy ex-bachelor used to not caring much for decorations, after all; the fact that Jisung was actually born _on_ Christmas day just made all decorating efforts more intense to say in the least. Now it was that time of year again and Taeil knew that if he didn’t fix up their apartment to suit Johnny’s standards, the birthday boy wouldn’t be the only one upset at their barren home.

Because of how much he lacked experience in the holiday spirit and honestly didn’t want to do it with anyone else, he’d asked Mark to help him out while Johnny was running errands, which lead them to where they were at the moment, hanging ornaments on their pitiful excuse for a Christmas tree. Mark had only been there for a total of twenty minutes but his presence in the dull apartment had brightened up the space considerably. Not only was his smile extra shiny today but he also knew what the fuck he was doing with Christmas lights and garland, too.

Taeil couldn’t help the grin that split his lips when Mark stepped through the door moments earlier wearing an absolutely hideous Grinch sweatshirt from what was probably the nineties with a red beanie to match; there were bags under his eyes because of the weight of finals, Taeil knew, though they still kept their usual twinkle when Mark laughed or talked animatedly about the gift he’d already picked out for Donghyuck. All in all, he was adorable and for the first time in years Taeil didn’t mind decking the literal halls this holiday season as much as he normally did.

“-nd I just really hope he doesn’t go and buy one before we exchange gifts because I spent, like, _a lot_ of the money my parents sent me this month on it so I’m probably going to try and hack into his Amazon account so I can keep track of whatever he buys which shouldn’t be _too_ hard since his passwords are always stupid shit like donghyuckiscool2000 just for good measure, y’know,” Mark finished, mouth moving a mile a minute. His hands were busy untangling a second string of lights to hang randomly on the walls (for “aesthetic purposes” he’d claimed when Taeil asked) as he chattered on mindlessly.

Taeil’s affectionate smile grew. “You’re really serious about his present, aren’t you?”

Mark stopped messing with the lights to look over at Taeil who sat on the couch cushion nearest to the tree in the corner of the living room. The faint sound of traffic below became more prominent as Mark nodded his head vigorously in favor of actually speaking. “Hell yeah, I am! Gift giving is my favorite part of Christmas.” _Of course it would be, you’re a literal angel and the winter season is your prime._ “Plus, Donghyuck might be a bit of a jerk on a day-to-day basis but he’s still my best friend and no matter how much I want to settle for getting him an ugly fedora, I won’t because that’s not what Christmas is about,” he explained, giggling at the mention of the hideous hat that Donghyuck probably actually deserved from what Taeil gathered from his incredibly ridiculous behavior throughout the year.

Although Taeil had met Donghyuck only approximately five times when he’d gone to Mark’s dorm to walk him home after various cafe, study, or hey-can-you-watch-Jisung-while-I-take-this-phone-call dates, the youngest of the three always had a cheeky remark waiting for them at the door.

Remembering his latest visit to Mark’s apartment where Donghyuck had blatantly asked Taeil if he’d had any single friends, he snorted. “You’re a much better person than I’ve ever thought about being; if I were you I’d get him a muzzle and call it a gift that just keeps on giving,” cackled the older. From his spot on the couch Taeil could see the fresh pout on Mark’s lips as clear as day. He covered his hand with his mouth to try and hide his amusement at how ridiculously adorable Mark could be when he wasn’t even trying but to no avail; Mark noticed his delight and narrowed his eyes dangerously at his boyfriend.

“You look like an angry puppy when you do that,” Taeil remarked, watching Mark grow poutier by the second. The black-haired male said nothing in reply but jutted his lip out further and tilted his head. “Oh, come _on_. I live with Jisung; you’re going to have to try _way_ harder if you want me to fall for that.”

As usual, Mark’s resolve cracked in a matter of seconds, his face breaking into a massive show of teeth. “Alright, alright. I won’t mess with the king of puppy dog eyes’ title is mentioned,” he joked. He set the light down on the kitchen counter before making his way towards the couch and seating himself comfortably next to Taeil, positions eerily similar to the way they’d sat the night they’d confessed to one another. Taeil’s cheeks colored at the thought but was cut off from his own thoughts by Mark speaking again. “Speaking of the little dude, his birthday’s coming up soon isn’t it?”

Taeil nodded. “Yeah, it’s on the twenty-fifth. I have no idea what to get him yet, either. I’m stuck between this modern art puzzle I saw at the mall last week or a new pair of-”

“Woah, woah, _woah_. Jisung was born on Christmas?” Mark asked, his eyebrows shooting up in the way that they had a tendency to when he got extremely excited or surprised. Taeil chuckled and mumbled a quiet yes, abandoning his job trying to put ornaments on the tree and instead swinging his legs into Mark’s lap, resting his head on the armchair of the sofa. “Holy literal shit, that’s so cool!” he exclaimed, acting as if finding out someone other than the acclaimed son of God was born on the twenty-fifth of December was the most fascinating thing since sliced bread.

Despite the dramatics, Taeil’s heart swelled with uncontrollable fondness, nonetheless. “Yep, our Jisunggie shares a birthday with Jesus himself.”

Mark seemed to contemplate this further, an expression of deep thought marring his features. His voice was soft as he spoke. “I wish _I_ was born on Christmas...” Taeil quirked an eyebrow but kept silent, waiting for the younger to continue. “I love Jesus.”

Taeil felt the warm creep of what was probably pure adoration and little bit of puppy love creep up his neck as he watched Mark contemplate Jesus and Jisung. “I know you do,” is all he replied, equally as quiet.

“You think it’s cute, right?” Mark asked suddenly, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Now that they’d gotten significantly closer in the months they’d been together Mark had taken to really enjoy embarrassing Taeil, which wasn’t too hard at all. “Which is why you agreed to go to midnight mass with me and my parents on Christmas Eve, right?” He’d sat up now, hugging Taeil’s sweat-pant clad legs to his chest tightly to display his enthusiasm.

Taeil didn’t even try to hide how flustered Mark’s blunt questions were, he just accepted that he looked like a tomato and nodded because his boyfriend was right, after all. Mark’s dedication to his religion was one of Taeil’s favorite things about him; even after the younger found out Taeil himself wasn’t religious his own faith didn’t deter at all. Mark had politely asked him (with no pressure) on multiple occasions to join him at the weekly church service he attended and Taeil and Jisung had gone at least a hand full of times, leaving the church with a lighter heart and a warm hand to hold every time. All in all, Taeil liked to think Mark made him a better person.

It’s silent for a moment before Mark heaved a deep sigh, removing Taeil’s legs from his lap and standing up. He offered the other his hand with another small smile, “Ready to finish this up?”

Taeil groaned miserably. “Only if you promise to help me shop for Jisung’s birthday gift tonight.”

“Deal,” Mark agreed easily, reaching down and yanking Taeil to his feet. “You’re back on tree decorating duty, by the way. Those ornaments won’t hang themsel- _Ow_! You don’t have to boop my nose to make me shut up, Tae. Violence is never the answer- Okay, _okay_ , I’m done, I swear! Just don’t come near these nostrils again, it injures my fragile masculinity.”

-

It’s when they’re at the mall that the issue became clear. Jisung and his playdate for the evening, Chenle, had just run ahead of them into the shoe store, excitedly admiring a pair of light up sneakers on the shelf, leaving the older couple to talk amongst themselves for a minute.

“I never knew Jisung had so much energy in him,” Mark commented, eyeing the youngest of the boys in front of him suspiciously. “He’s always so mellow when I’m around.”

Taeil’s arm that wasn’t hooked with Mark’s patted the blonde man’s face sympathetically, giving him a look of absolute pity. “Oh, honey,” he mockingly cooed. “You’ve just never seen him with Chenle.”

For a second Taeil thought Mark would yank away from him but instead he just laughed it off, leaning into the warm hand cupping his cheek. “You’re right. I’ve actually never seen him with anyone other than you or Johnny or myself.” He fixed his eyes on the two mischievous duo in front of them again. “For some reason they remind me of you and Johnny but way smaller and way, way more adorable.”

Taeil rolled his eyes, removing his gloved hand from Mark’s face and pocketing it. He wrinkled his nose. “Shut up.”

Mark poked out his tongue childishly. “Never.”

A loud cough interrupts the conversation from developing further and it takes Taeil all of three seconds to feel the insistent tugging on his pant leg. One glance at the floor confirmed his suspicions; Jisung was done looking at shoes. “Can we go to the toy store now, please?” is what the seven-year-old asked politely, eyes shining with the typical puppy pout Taeil had yet to grow immune to.

“Of course. Lead the way,” Taeil affirmed, patting his nephews head softly. A squeak of a thank you could be heard as the boys ran off towards the toy shop a few doors down.

He started to speed walk after them until he felt Mark anchor him to the ground. “They’ll be fine, Tae. I can see Chenle’s bright blue jacket with one eye closed through these crowds,” the blonde promised, laughing cutely. “Now, c’mon, let’s go see what they’re so excited about. Maybe it’ll give you an idea of what to get the kid for Christmas slash his birthday.”

Taeil nodded, agreeing wordlessly. He chuckled to himself as they began to walk slowly, eyes still following the pair of bright blue and red jackets racing towards what was like action figure heaven to them. Not thinking much of it, Taeil said, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I still need to figure out what to wrap up for Jisungmas.”

“Jisungmas?” Mark snorted. “Did you make that up?”

“No,” Taeil scoffed, mocking offense. “Johnny actually did. The first Christmas we had as a family of three without Jisung’s dad was pretty rough on the kid so me and Seo tried our best to make it as good of a birthday as we could. I mean, before Jisung was in the picture we used to just go to lame ass holiday parties on Christmas Eve and get way too shitfaced to function the next day so we were kind of clueless as to how to actually make a seven-year-old happy,” Taeil explained, huffing as he finished the last sentence. “Long story short, we ended up celebrating his birthday like it was Christmas instead of actually separating the two events. My brother apparently never explained it to Jisung, anyway, so we just went along with whatever cheered him up.” He shrugged nonchalantly, still attempting to keep an eye on the kids, not taking notice of the blatant range of emotions unfolding on Mark’s face.

The younger’s pace slowed as he contemplated what Taeil had just said, eventually coming to a stop right outside the entrance of the toy store, lost in his own thoughts. “Wait, so you’re telling me no one ever told Jisung his birthday and Christmas aren’t the same thing?” he asked, eyebrows skyrocketing towards his hairline.

Taeil tore his attention from the bustling shop and turned to face Mark. “Um, well now that you put it that way, yeah.” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed. “There’s never exactly been the right time to explain it to him.”

Mark’s eyes grew comically at Taeil’s admittance. “Jesus Christ, Taeil. Literally! I-What do you _mean_ no one ever took the time to explain to Jisung that his birthday isn’t a global holiday?” Mark croaked, mouth hanging so wide open it could catch flies. His expression would be almost comical to Taeil if he weren’t the one being criticized what with the younger’s usually soft brown eyes blown up to the size of saucers as he gawked at his boyfriend.

Taeil avoided Mark’s gaze as he began to try to pull the taller man along into the shop to find Chenle and Jisung; they’d all had enough excitement for one day, Taeil decided. “I meant what I said, loudmouth. It just hadn’t come up again until now; it’s not like me and Johnny are exactly looking forward to crushing the little guy’s dreams.”

“ _Never came up_?”

“ _Yes_ , Mark, it never came up! Now, are you done staring at me like I’ve grown a third eye or are you going to help me find our kids?” Taeil huffed, unlinking his arm from Mark’s to stare at him indignantly. The Christmas decorations earlier were enough to make him want to nap for a few hours but with the addition of Mark’s dramatics and the awakening of his own repressed guilt, Taeil was bogged down and ready to go home right now, immediately. “If you think it’s so terrible then why don’t you explain it to him after dinner? Be my guest, _please_ ,” he invited, finally smiling again. His canines gleamed under the fluorescents and for a moment Mark felt like he was face-to-face with Donghyuck, not his sweet, handsome, and utterly awkward boyfriend who was usually so bashful; his stomach dropped. _Oh, god. What have I done?_

Quick to not show how truly disturbed he was by the challenge, Mark gulped and beamed. He knew Taeil liked his smile the most and right now he needed more than the grace of God and his natural beauty; he needed a goddamn miracle. Still, he went along with his poker faced façade because _how hard can it be?_ _Jisung’s a smart kid._

“Easy peasy. What’s on the menu?”

-

The number of times Mark had seen Jisung in his dinosaur pajamas was close to about a hundred but he still found the little boy to be absolutely precious when he climbed into bed and asked for a bedtime story all while sporting a bright red stitched t-rex over his heart.

Tonight was no exception; Mark practically cooed as Jisung silently clambered into his bed, wet hair, droopy eyes, and all. Behind him was Taeil, who looked equally as haggard and as soaked as his nephew. For the sake of staying on the older man’s good side, Mark decided to say nothing about the giant patch of water on his stomach that more than likely came from aiding Jisung during his bath time. Instead, he grinned while covering his mouth, fluffing the pillow for Jisung as he began to settle down for the night.

As their usual routine for when Mark was over for dinner, he’d waited in Jisung’s room, finding his regular seat on the tiny bed with a story book in hand, ready to read it however many times it took for Jisung to pass out. Taeil always told him he needed to learn to say no to the kid and only read it once but Mark’s heart wasn’t strong enough for that so he continued to read the same fairytale seven times, only stopping when he heard Jisung’s soft snores beside him.

While Taeil had cooked dinner shortly after they’d returned home- without Chenle, thank God- he and Mark had gone over what they were going to say before story time commenced. Stirring the pan of greens, Mark felt confident in educating Jisung but now that the seven-year-old was pressed to his side and looking expectantly up at him, the words he planned to say seemed trapped in his throat. He coughed.

“So, Jisung…What do you want for your birthday?” Mark asked, deciding to start out simple. _All kids love to talk about their birthday, right?_

Jisung puffed his cheeks and furrowed his brow, taking the question seriously in typical Jisung fashion. “It’s not my birthday yet so I don’t know.” From his position in the door frame, Taeil cracks a smile at Mark’s exasperated expression; he was right after, all. Jisung _was_ a smart kid— maybe a little _too_ smart.

Mark exhaled, then tried again. He wasn’t about to give up that easily; Taeil was the pushover here, not him. “Let’s pretend your birthday is tomorrow, then. What would you ask for if you absolutely _had_ to?”

Jisung thought about it for a moment then shrugged easily. “New socks,” he answered, pointing at the unopened book in Mark’s hands. He was growing more impatient and Mark could clearly see the unhappiness furrowing into the slight curl of his lips. “Can you read to me now?”

“Can you read to me now, what?” Taeil interjected, throwing the youngest a sharp look.

Jisung winced, an instant apology written on his face in the form of a grimace. Mark patted the boy’s back, trying to coax him into comfort, away from Taeil’s piercing stare and into a safe space that would allow him to spill the beans about his secret wish list, therefore giving Mark the perfect opportunity to bring up the elephant in the room.

“Sorry. Can you read to me now, _please_?” Jisung reprimanded himself, leaning into Mark’s side again more insistently this time.

Mark shook his head, mentally battling with himself on whether or not to give into the child’s pouting or to stand his ground like the tough guy he claimed to be only hours before. In the end, he decided to persevere (read: not looking Jisung in the eye.) “I can’t start reading until you tell me what you want for your birthday, Jisunggie. If you tell me just one thing you want, I’ll read as many stories as you have on your shelf; does that sound fair?”

Taeil watched the two silently from the doorway, holding back a snort at Mark’s petty bribery. _Cute_. Jisung looked momentarily dejected at the thought of making a compromise but quickly perked back up as he more than likely remembered just how many story books his shelf actually held. _Even Cuter_.

“Okay,” Jisung agreed, pulling on Mark’s sleeve to steal his attention from the _oh-so_ interesting blanket covering the little boy’s legs the older seemed so entranced by. “I want some new markers, _please_.”

Mark wasn’t entirely satisfied with this answer either because he could go and buy markers and socks on any given day for Jisung; there wasn’t anything remarkable about the items he asked for but much like when talking seriously with Taeil, Mark knew when to stop digging and accept his fate; the conversation was over. “Your wish is my command, little dude. Count on a box of new Crayola’s, alright?” He elbowed the younger playfully, earning a delighted shriek from the child.

Jisung giggled and clutched onto Mark’s arm again, smiling into his skin. He lay still for a moment, calming himself down from the small bout of laughter, slowly sliding his head down Mark’s bicep and eventually into the crook of his elbow. “Alright,” he whispered, voice back to its usual mellow tone. “Now are we going to read?”

Every fiber in Mark’s being was begging him to just say _yes_ but Mark Lee was no quitter and despite popular belief, he wasn’t _that_ much of a softy, either. He wasn’t going to let Taeil win this no matter how heartwarmingly adorable his nephew was. “We are, but first I need you to tell me when your birthday is so I can know when to give you your new markers.”

Mark knew that going the ignorant route with this was a bit low and probably more than obvious to a child as intelligent as Jisung but there wasn’t any other way he could think of going about this. His heart was thundering in his chest at the mere thought of what he was about to say and how deeply it would probably effect Jisung for the rest of his life. _It’s better to tell him the truth now and get it over with so you can all move on with your lives,_ Mark thought to himself, sucking in a deep breath. He was sweating so much it was a wonder that Jisung couldn’t feel the perspiration on his cheeks; the sudden fit of anxiety was nothing new to Mark at all but he still found himself being embarrassed at how nervous he was to tell a child that his birthday wasn’t a national holiday.

Mark opened his mouth to say something more when Jisung didn’t answer him immediately but was soon cut off by the other’s sleep-riddled words. “December 25th,” he replied, stifling a yawn. He closed his eyes and cuddled further into the college sophomore before tacking on, “The same day as Christmas.”

 _“Christmas?”_ cried a distraught Taeil, who Mark had forgotten was even in the room. His eyes had grown large, making him resemble an unamused fish who, through evolution, had grown a jaw that was permanently glued to the floor. “Who told you about _Christmas_ , Moon Jisung?”

Jisung, who seemed unphased by his uncle’s suffering, peeked one eye open and then closed it again, movements as leisurely as a sunbathing cat’s. “Um, everybody at school?” _Pause._ “Chenle hasn’t stopped talking about the new Pokémon game he thinks his mom bought him for Christmas for weeks.” _Another pause._ “And it’s all over TV.” In his nineteen years of living, Mark had never felt more absolutely idiotic than he did at that moment. They lived in a world of constant mass media consumption; it’d be unheard of for anyone in the country to not know about Christmas: there’s Christmas songs on the radio, the shops in town are littered with decorations, and there’s no telling how many of Jisung’s friends are starring in their church’s Christmas pageant. _Of course_ Jisung knew about Christmas; it was impossible not to. “Why? What’s the big deal?”

Taeil shut his eyes and took a deep breath then trudged over to the bed where he sat at Jisung and Mark’s feet. He rubbed his face tiredly and if Mark weren’t trapped by half of Jisung’s body weight, he would’ve moved closer to comfort the older male with a reassuring neck rub. But, alas, he was stuck with a sleepy and clingy seven-year-old who _still_ hadn’t been read to, so he stayed still and waited for Taeil speak. “It’s nothing, Jisunggie. Now, let’s let Mark read to you your story. The Prince and the Pauper, right?”

Jisung grinned. “Yes, please!”

It was obvious they were going to speak more about _this_ after Jisung fell asleep but for now they would ignore it and go through their nightly routine. Mark flipped the colorful book in his hands open, revealing a pretty picture of a prince in rich robes and a servant in rags in the royal gardens, smiling at one another sweetly. Jisung’s full attention was on Mark as he began to read, transporting all three of them into an alternate universe.

“Once upon a time…”

-

Mark’s keys jingled in his pocket as he slipped on his bulky winter jacket over his still hideous Grinch sweater by the front door. He had a math exam the next day and knew he had wasted a good chunk of time with Taeil today, but couldn’t find it in himself to really regret not pouring over textbooks all afternoon. Plus, Jaemin was no doubt still be up reviewing for the same exam and would have no problem helping him out with those terrible conversions.

“Text me when you get home?” Taeil quipped, leaning against the wall with his arm crossed as he watched Mark with exhausted eyes. He still hadn’t said anything about Jisung pulling the rug out from both of their feet and Mark was honestly starting to wonder if he was alright but those thoughts were soon laid to rest when Taeil rolled his eyes, smiling. “I can practically _hear_ your thoughts, Mark Lee. I’m fine, I promise. Just a little what the kids call ‘shook.’”

Mark closed his eyes much like Taeil had earlier and took a deep breath. “ _Please_ never say that again.” Usually, Mark laughed at all of the other’s terrible and awkward jokes but this was too much even for him. “I’m begging you.”

Taeil’s grin split his face. “Johnny told me to say it. It was funny, right?”

“If I say it was funny will you swear to never say it again?” Taeil nodded. “Good. _Jesus Christ_ , I hate Youngho sometimes.” Mark slotted the red beanie from this morning back onto his head, smoothing it over his hair. “Anyways, are you _sure_ you’re okay? I was kind of expecting more angst from you.”

The hotel manager and part-time father laughed easily, throwing his head back in glee. He pushed himself off the wall and came over to Mark where he started to button the younger’s jacket much like he did to Jisung every morning before leaving for school. Mark, naturally taller, spread his legs to lower his height to match Taeil’s for the shorter’s convenience. “Are you kidding? I was shocked, not sad. I mean, I’m not going to cry myself to sleep tonight because Chenle or Renjun told him about Christmas before us, y’know?” Once he finished buttoning, he patted invisible dust off Mark’s shoulders, inspecting him thoroughly. “Did you really want to break the news, Mr. Tough Guy?”

“Hell no; are _you_ kidding? I was starting to panic when I was about to have to actually go through with it. I can’t do serious parent shit like that, that’s your job.”

“But I thought it would be ‘easy peasy!’” Taeil cackled, enjoying Mark’s anguish a bit too much. “I told you it wouldn’t be that simple, you dolt.”

Mark stood up straight, adjusting his height back to its usual extent. He backed away from Taeil, shifting his weight from one foot to the other while puffing out his cheeks in a pout. “You were right, okay? I shouldn’t have doubted the strength it takes to look Jisung in the eye and tell him the truth about this cold, cruel world we live in. _God_ , I don’t even think Donghyuck could muster up enough courage to do it.”

Taeil snorted, reaching for the knob of the front door. “Didn’t you say he has no soul?”

“He _doesn’t._ That’s why I stay friends with him, Tae. He needs a guardian angel like me to keep his morality in check.”

“Oh, right. My bad. I didn’t realize I was in the presence of an angel,” retorted Taeil. Mark had clearly been spending more time with Johnny now that he hung around their apartment more. _God help us._ “But seriously, text me when you get home; I’ve got to wash the dishes and do a load of laundry, anyway.”

Mark nodded, putting his hand over Taeil’s where it rested on the doorknob. “Will do.” He smiled softly then went in to squeeze Taeil one last time before departing for the night, throwing his head into Taeil’s chest. “I’ll call you tomorrow after my exam, too. Goodnight, _moon pie_.”

The pet name had Taeil’s cheeks dusting pink but before he could say anything in response, Mark had thrown the door open and was already making his way towards the elevator. Holding his burning cheek with one hand and the door with the other, Taeil choked out a laugh despite the extreme fondness pricking his heart. “Goodnight to you, too, Mark Lee,” he whispered more to himself than anyone else. “ _Goodnight_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy (very late) new years!  
> 


End file.
